HomeExplore Oregon

The Explore Oregon Program is now available to members of the Oregon Pilots Association!

About Explore Oregon

The Explore Oregon program encourages pilots and aviation enthusiasts to explore Oregon’s public-use airports. Beyond motivating pilots to fly, this program supports general aviation airports, area businesses, tourism and provides flight planning, safety, and educational opportunities.

The program relies on the voluntary participation of Oregon’s public-use airports, pilots, aviation enthusiasts and sponsors.

The ultimate objective for this program is to increase aviation economic activity, enhance general aviation visibility and provide challenging and rewarding flying experiences for OPA members

Participants, using an official Explore Oregon Logbook, collect signatures after landing at public-use airports.

Explore Oregon, an Oregon Pilots Association (OPA) member benefit, is open to all members of OPA.

Participants earn rewards for various levels of achievement as they explore the airports in the state of Oregon.

The Explore Oregon Logbook

The Explore Oregon Logbook is available to OPA members at no cost.
Sorry—participation in Explore Oregon is a member benefit, and open to OPA members only.

If you are not a current OPA member, please join here and return to this page once you have logged in.

Join OPA Here

Members may join the Explore Oregon Interest Group and Forum, that allows access to the logbook for downloading and printing. Detailed instructions follow, below.

The Explore Oregon Logbook is organized by region first, then by the full airport code alphanumerically within each region. The regions are: Coast, Valley, Southwest, Central and East.

Some airports may have a “Caution!”, “Seasonal”, or “Turf” symbol.
Caution! denotes something about the airport that may not be suitable for all aircraft and/or pilots’ abilities. Seasonal airports are closed during winter months.
The turf symbol is used for airports with only a grass runway.

STEP 1: Register for Explore Oregon

Members must register in order to participate in the program. This will allow us to track participation, but also to ensure that eligible members have access to the logbook and recognition awards.

Registration is achieved by first electing to join the Explore Oregon Interest Group:

Register for Explore Oregon

STEP 2: Participate in the Explore Oregon Forum and Print the Logbook

Once you have completed STEP 1, you are ready to join the Explore Oregon Forum, where you download your copy of the logbook and, if you wish, interact with other participants. For example, you might want to tell others that there is a new restaurant at an airport, or that the fuel pump is broken, and so on. You can also upload photos to the forum to share your adventures with others.

To join the forum and to print your copy of the logbook, please follow the instructions in this document:

Explore Oregon Forum and Logbook

STEP 3: Enjoy the Program and Claim Achievement Awards

With your logbook in hand, you are ready to Explore Oregon, by air!

The program's achievement awards are first earned for the five individualregional challenges. The logbook lists all of the public-use airports in each region, but participants choose which airports to visit to earn that region's award. For example, in the Coast region, there are 18 public use airports listed in the logbook, but you only need to visit 16 of them to achieve the award.

The required number of airports to visit for each regional award, are:
Coast: 16 (out of the 18 listed)
Valley: 20 (out of the 22 listed)
Southwest: 15 (out of the 18 listed) Central: 16 (out of the 18 listed)
East: 14 (out of the 19 listed)

When you accomplish the required airport visits for all of regions, you will earn the top award of an Explore Oregon jacket! See the Explore Oregon Program Rules found on the last page in the logbook for instructions on how to claim your achievement award(s).

If you have any questions regarding the Explore Oregon Program, please send an email to:
exploreoregon@oregonpilot.org

We Hope You Enjoy Explore Oregon!

Explore Oregon Program Disclaimer

Please be sure to read the program rules and disclaimers found in the logbook and note that, through your participation, you agree to abide by the program rules and accept that you participate at your own risk. OPA accepts no responsibility, stated or implied, for your participation in the Explore Oregon program. As with all flight operations, it is the pilot's sole responsibility to familiarize themselves with all aspects of the flight and to determine that they, their aircraft and their skills are commensurate with the planned operations. As always, get a full preflight briefing, including but not limited to weather, NOTAMs and TFRs.

Explore Oregon Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. When will the new Explore Oregon program be available?

A. The Explore Oregon program is available now to OPA members!

Q. Can nonmembers participate in the program?

A. No. OPA is a membership organization, and we rely on members to pay annual dues to help us provide programs such as Explore Oregon.
We request that members print a logbook for their own use, only. If family members or friends wish to participate in the program, please ask them to join OPA so that they can enjoy all the benefits of membership, including being eligible for the Explore Oregon achievement awards.

Q. Is there a fee for the logbook, or any other charges?

A. No! The new Explore Oregon is a (free) member benefit. Members may download the logbook from the OPA website, and then print a copy on their home printer.

Q. Will it be a limited-duration program as in the past?

A. No! The new program will run year-round.

Q. Will the program be expanded to cover all of Oregon's (public use) airports?

A. Yes! The new program covers all public use airports in Oregon.

Q. Wait...that's a lot of airports. Do I have to fly to every one of them?

A. Not necessarily. The program includes various challenges, the completion of which earn achievement awards. For example, there is a Central Oregon challenge, a Southwest challenge, and so on. You fly as many challenges as you like and get awards along the way.

Q. You mention awards. What does that mean?

A. Well, beyond just the sheer fun of flying to different airports, we are seeking sponsorship from state and national aviation business in order to provide achievement awards of various sorts. Perhaps gift certificates, perhaps achievement patches, perhaps some stylish gear. Time will tell—stay tuned!

Q. Will the program involve "stamps"?

A. No. The OPA board of directors pondered this in great detail and came to the conclusion that physical stamps are a high-maintenance version of something that can be much simpler.
From experience, the stamps are treated as trophies (that is, they are often stolen), or the ink pads dry up, or some other issue.
We're going with the pilot's honor system, whereby you land and either get someone at the airport to sign your logbook, or you snap a photo of you and your aircraft at a recognizable location on the airport and included it in your logbook. Simple.