Sponsored Content

While meeting planners will find plenty of indoor event space in the Eugene, Cascades & Coast region of Oregon, it’s the outdoors — lush forests, wide rivers, roaring waterfalls, soaring dunes and crashing waves — that draws events to the area.

“We love hosting planner FAM trips, because we know if we can get them here, they get the magic of what this region offers,” said Heidi Albertson, convention sales manager for Eugene, Cascades & Coast.

“People just rave about how beautiful it is,” she added. “Rivers run through the middle of the city, there are two buttes in the Eugene area — there is just so much abundance of nature.”

The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area stretches along 40 miles of the Pacific coast, and there’s no better way to experience the dunes than during a dune buggy tour. Both Sandland Adventures and Siuslaw Eco Tours offer small buggies for smaller groups, and Sandland Adventures also has giant buggies that can hold about 20 people each. Although the large vehicles are slower, they still deliver gritty thrills when cresting the top of a dune, some of which are 500 feet high.

Sand Master Park is a 40-acre commercial sandboard park in Florence where groups can take sandboarding lessons (like snowboarding on sand).

Numerous companies lead whitewater rafting trips on the majestic McKenzie River, and kayaking on one of the numerous lakes in the region is another popular group option.

C&M Stables can take groups horseback riding on the beach, and active attendees can take advantage of the area’s mountain trails and waterfalls, including Salt Creek Falls, the second-tallest waterfall in Oregon.

The area has two conference hotels: Valley River Inn and Graduate by Hilton Eugene, both located in Eugene, home of the University of Oregon.

Valley River Inn is a mid-century modern gem that sits on the banks of the Willamette River and reopened in March 2025 after a full renovation. The project updated the hotel’s 259 guest rooms, public spaces and over 15,000 square feet of flexible event space. The hotel expanded its deck over the river, and planners will find meeting rooms that overlook the water.

The Graduate by Hilton Eugene has an eclectic 1970s vibe that celebrates UO’s Oregon Ducks, including a giant toy ducky in the lobby and a “museum” of Nike shoes at the front desk (Nikes were invented in Eugene). The hotel has 275 guest rooms and nearly 35,000 square feet of event space, including a variety of ballrooms, event halls, breakout rooms and a rooftop deck.

The university’s Erb Memorial Union offers dozens of gathering spaces, and The Venue is an urban-industrial space housed in a historic, 20,000-square-foot mill building.

When the Eugene-Springfield metro area welcomes massive events, like big international track meets, “the people, the culture are so welcoming,” Albertson said. “Everybody talks to everybody. The region is used to welcoming huge groups of people.”

People are also drawn to the region’s wine and its world-renowned wineries, including King Estate Winery, the largest Biodynamic-certified vineyard in North America.

“The one thing I know is that, ultimately, people want to have authentic experiences,” Albertson said. “They want to feel something when they’re in a place, and they get that when they’re here.”

For more information, please contact:

Eugene, Cascades & Coast

Heidi Albertson

Heidi@EugeneCascadesCoast.org

541-743-8761

541-484-5307 (Main)

EugeneCascadesCoastMeetings.org