Signs of spring abound all around us: The season’s first flowers are beginning to bloom, the days are getting longer, and temperatures are inching higher all the time. But there’s no surer sign of spring’s onset than the coveted tradition of spring break.
Salem and the Mid-Willamette Valley have plenty to make the area a home base for your spring destination. Where else, after all, will you find the region’s most vibrant cherry blossoms, dazzling tulip fields, yoga classes alongside Nigerian dwarf goats, and a brand-new professional basketball team?
So as you make your spring travel plans, here’s a rundown of six seasonal bucket-list activities around Salem and the Mid-Willamette Valley.
For nearly 40 years, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival has been an iconic celebration—and the surest sign that spring has finally arrived.
The heart of the festival (taking place daily March 18-May 1, 2022) is 40 acres of colorful, Instagram-worthy tulip fields in dazzling shades of red, yellow, pink, purple—and the list goes on. (In all, the farm grows more than 100 varieties of tulip.)
But even beyond the tulip fields, you’ll find plenty of family fun—including a children’s play area, photo cut-out boards, small “cow” wagons for young children, train tours (for an added fee), on-site food vendors, a garden market, a tasting room with estate-grown wines, craft vendors, and more.
Friendly reminder: Tickets must be purchased online and in advance. Tickets are not available at the gate and may sell out—especially on sunny weekends toward the end of the festival (when tulips are in full bloom).
You’ll find plenty of yoga studios around Salem and the mid-Willamette Valley—but we know how to pair the downward dog pose with memorable experiences that help you connect with what makes the region so special.
We’re an agricultural community, for instance, so it only makes sense that you can stretch it out while Nigerian dwarf goats mingle at your feet. Salem Goat Yoga hosts its 45-minute classes on a small family farm just outside Salem—and encourages participants to hang out for another 45 minutes while taking photos with the goats and cuddling with the cute critters.
Here in the Willamette Valley, we’re also known for our love of good craft beer—so stick around for a post-class pint with Yoga + Beer. Mikki Trowbridge, E-RYT, MBA, launched her first Yoga + Beer class in 2013 and, in the years since, her company has held more than 1,000 classes at breweries, vineyards, distilleries, and tap houses around Salem and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Trowbridge’s first class took place just outside Salem, and she still routinely holds classes in the area—such as at Gilgamesh Brewing and Eola Hills Wine Cellars. Following the class, students can enjoy a handcrafted beverage and some friendly conversation with fellow Yogis.
Professional basketball comes to Salem! This season, the Salem Capitals are debuting The Basketball League—a minor-league organization with 44 teams throughout the United States.
The Capitals tipped off at the 3,000-seat Salem Armory in early March—and its 24-game regular season will continue until Memorial Day weekend. Games will be played against other teams from throughout the West Coast, all featuring high-level players with college experience.
This is an enjoyable and affordable outing for the entire family with kids’ activities, halftime entertainment and more. Tickets are only $5 for children and seniors and $10 for adults.
Just west of Salem, the scenic Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge sits at the eastern edge of the Coast Range foothills—creating the ideal climate for wildflowers to bloom in abundance.
You’ll find plenty of observation decks throughout the refuge, some of which showcase pops of springtime color, but those in the know make a beeline for the two-mile Rich Guadagno Memorial Loop Trail.
The footpath gains about 150 feet while ascending Basket Butte; along the way, it passes meadows and hillsides covered in the purple-ish Tolmie’s star-tulip, bright yellow western buttercup, stalks of golden paintbrush, and other lively blooms. While you’re there, keep an eye out for migrating birds—more than 230 species of bird have been recorded on the refuge—as well as the Fender’s blue butterfly, which was thought to be extinct as recently as the 1980s; today, the butterfly can be seen in fight between mid-May and early June.
This content was originally published here.
