A foodie’s guide to Rogue Valley

TRAVEL

Southern Oregon destination offers a bounty of local food and wine

The Rogue Valley is home to several lavender farms, which will add a burst of color to any visitor’s trip to the region. courtesy of Visit Grants Pass

The Weasku Inn, a charming and woodsy spot on the banks of Oregon’s Rogue River just outside Grants Pass, was built in 1924. It makes a fine base for local exploration. photo by ben davidson

If you’re feeling peckish in Grants Pass, House of Glory’s housemade gelato and Cuban-style empanadas might be just the things. courtesy of Visit Grants Pass

You can sample award-winning blue cheeses — and the grilled cheese — at the Rogue Creamery in Central Point, near Medford. photo by Ben Davidson

Several charming wineries can be found in Oregon’s Applegate Valley, including Ted and Mary Warrick’s Wooldridge Creek operation, where visitors can relax, chat and sample vintages in the tasting room or on the patio. photo by Ben Davidson

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By Ben Davidson

Correspondent

Southern Oregon’s rugged, rural Rogue Valley region and the towns of Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland abound in the edible and drinkable things that make everyday life here so enjoyable for locals — and a delight for visitors.

There are artisan cheese and food producers, family-run fruit orchards, egg- and honey-producing farms, organic vineyards, craft breweries, whiskey distilleries and even gourmet chocolate operations. Much of this bounty is found on the Rogue Valley Food Trail, a self-guided adventure to diverse farms, artisans and restaurants.

The region is great to visit any time of year, but spring through fall offers a cornucopia of fresh vegetables, fruit and other seasonal products. You can wander on your own or download a free map at southernoregon.org/food-trails/rogue-valley-food-trail to start discovering this delightful and lightly visited region.

We arrived in Grants Pass after a smooth drive north on the 5 Freeway. Our base camp for three days was the historic Weasku Inn, a charming, woodsy sanctuary on the banks of the Rogue River. Located just outside town, the lodge was built in 1924 as a fishing haven. Its cozy, Lincoln Log-style main lodge instantly transports you back to an earlier era of Pacific Northwest travel, when the cabins and lodge rooms attracted such luminaries as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Bing Crosby and Walt Disney.

We loved our stay here not only for the peaceful and relaxing setting in the woods, the leisurely breakfasts on the main lodge’s wide deck (included with all bookings) and walks down to the river, but as a base for scenic food- and drink-filled exploration of the region and its food trail.

On day one of our Rogue Valley exploration, we made a beeline to the Applegate Valley between Grants Pass and Medford, where our first stop was the distinctive shop at Pennington Farms, a 90-acre, family-run berry farm and bakeshop. Farmer Sam Pennington grows dozens of types of berries, and his wife, Cathy, makes pies, baked goods and jams using her Italian grandmother’s family recipes. We stepped inside the rustic, renovated barn to sample the daily changing selection of housemade jams, pies and baked goods. Be sure to try some of the hard-to-find varieties, such as lusterberry, kotataberry and tayberry jams, for an authentic Southern Oregon treat.

The Applegate Valley has a charming feel that evokes the quiet, rural Sonoma wine country of years past. For wine tasting, we headed to Wooldridge Creek Winery (named after the family who first settled here in the 1800s). The vineyard began as Ted and Mary Warrick’s hobby in the 1970s. Over time, these two SoCal expats evolved Wooldridge into a serious commercial vineyard that includes an organic winery and creamery. They produce a limited supply of 5,000 cases from 12 varietals, which can be sampled in their tasting room and patios.

In Central Point, close to Medford, you don’t want to miss the Rogue Creamery cheese shop and its award-winning products. Over the past 90 years, Rogue Creamery has mastered cheese — especially blue cheese — and its products can be found at counters and restaurants around the world.

Rogue Creamery’s Rogue River Blue cheese is hand-wrapped in organic, biodynamic syrah grape leaves soaked in pear spirits and was named world’s best cheese at the World Cheese Awards in 2019-20. The spot’s grilled cheese sandwiches are enough to make any blue cheese lover swoon. About 45 minutes’ drive from the shop, you can also visit Rogue Creamery’s dairy and farm shop for an insightful look at a working dairy farm and fresh cheese, of course!

Other worthy stops on the food trail include the Applegate River Lavender Farm near Jacksonville and the English Lavender Farm in Applegate Valley. Visit these farms between June and early August, and you’ll see abundant fields of fragrant lavender and can peruse lavender products.

Organic produce and meats are sold at Rogue Artisan Foods. Whistling Duck Farm in Applegate Valley offers fresh produce and fermented veggies, and Daily Blessings Farm in Grants Pass offers fresh eggs, produce and flowers.

Wild Bee Honey Farm in Eagle Point and Mountain Blossom Bees north of Grants Pass offer honey-inspired treats. And Dunbar Farms is a 110-year-old, family-owned farm specializing in stone-milled flours and estate-grown wines.

Our evenings were focused on Grants Pass, a short drive from the Weasku Inn. We enjoyed delightful riverside dining at the TapRock Northwest Grill, fine dining at Partake and a lively craft brew and food truck scene at Weekend Beer Co.

The town’s small but colorful historic district is fun to explore with a free downloadable map (find it at visitgrantspass.com), and it’s where you’ll find House of Glory, a dessert cafe that serves up housemade gelato and savory, Cuban-style empanadas.

And Oregon wine lovers will find several downtown tasting rooms featuring the region’s wine producing regions — the Applegate Valley, Upper Rogue, and Jacksonville — each with its own wine trail.

Each evening back at the Weasku Inn, we settled into Adirondack chairs by the fire pit just outside the main lodge, where we enjoyed a glass of local wine and inn-provided s’mores and reflected on the day’s delicious surprises.

It was a fitting celebration for this easy getaway filled with friendly Southern Oregon charm, stunning scenery and food, wine and craft beer delights.