Eugene is Oregon's second city, with around 175,000 people, sitting in the Willamette Valley where the McKenzie River joins the Willamette. It is a university town — the University of Oregon is its heart — and the culture reflects that: progressive, outdoors-oriented, with good live music and a strong running tradition. The legendary long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine trained here under Bill Bowerman, who went on to co-found Nike, and Hayward Field remains one of the finest track venues in the world.
The downtown has Kesey Square, the Hult Center for performing arts, 5th Street Public Market, and a Saturday Market that has run weekly since 1970. The Whiteaker neighbourhood, just northwest of downtown, is Eugene at its most countercultural — breweries, taquerias, and warehouse murals.
The Willamette River provides paths for running, cycling, and kayaking; Alton Baker Park on the north bank has Pre's Trail, the bark-chip loop Prefontaine designed. Spencer Butte to the south of downtown is a forested park with trails and sweeping views of the valley, while Skinner Butte sits at the bend of the river with the fairy-tale Victorian Shelton McMurphey Johnson House halfway up its slope.
Eugene is a natural base for exploring the McKenzie River valley to the east, with hot springs, waterfalls, and lava fields, and it is about an hour from the Oregon coast.