Hikers across Oregon are being asked to keep their eyes peeled this winter: more than 350 locally crafted wooden ornaments are being tucked along forest trails from the Willamette Valley to the Cascade foothills, part of a sweepstakes-linked treasure hunt that runs from Nov. 20 through Dec. 31. Organizers call it the largest version yet of an event now in its ninth year.
The ninth annual Willamette Valley Ornament Hunt is a partnership between the Willamette Valley Visitors Association and Cascade Volunteers, according to willamettevalley.org, which describes nearly 40 trails where the ornaments will be hidden across the Willamette Valley, the Cascades and the Oregon Coast Range foothills. The full trail list is scheduled to be posted on the association's website on Nov. 20, the day the hunt begins, per the same source. Philomath News, meanwhile, reports the hunt covering more than 25 non-wilderness trails, a figure that differs from the association's own description of nearly 40 — a discrepancy the available reporting does not resolve.
Cascade Volunteers has placed ornaments at Mount Hood National Forest, Milo McIver State Park and Bureau of Land Management recreation areas in northwest Oregon, according to the KOIN report by Jashayla Pettigrew. That reporting also notes the hunt has expanded beyond its original home in the Willamette National Forest to include the Mount Hood, Siuslaw and Umpqua national forests, a growth pattern Philomath News also tracked this year.
A Volkswagen Bus Theme, Designed Locally
This year’s ornament, designed and made by 20 Leagues, depicts a red-and-yellow wooden Volkswagen bus marked “Willamette Valley,” with a Christmas tree on its roof and Mount Hood in the background, according to KOIN. The hunt’s designs change from year to year: the 2024 ornament had a mountain-biking motif, and as many as 200 ornaments were hidden on non-wilderness trails in ranger districts of the Willamette and Umpqua national forests, according to rare.uoregon.edu.
Melinda Martin, a Cascade Volunteers board member, said the hunt can connect people with public lands and encourage them to care for those places, according to KOIN. She described that connection as part of the reason Cascade Volunteers and the visitors association work together on the event.
Built for Families and Veteran Hikers Alike
The placement is intended to offer options for different hikers: some ornaments are near trail starts for families with young children, while others are farther along trails for more experienced hikers, according to KOIN. The visitors association advises that ornaments be hung at eye level or lower and never where someone would need to leave the trail; it asks experienced hikers to look farther along so newer visitors can find the easier ones.
The 2026 hunt also includes several ADA-accessible trails, the visitors association noted, and a dedicated Ornaments for All Abilities event is planned for Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the McKenzie River Discovery Center in Walterville. Extra ornaments will be hidden on accessible trails for that event, per Philomath News. Exact ornament locations are expected to be revealed on the association's website once the hunt begins, KOIN reported.
The volunteer work behind the hunt
Cascade Volunteers’ year-round work includes coordinating volunteer support for the Willamette National Forest through leadership summits, training and a volunteer database, according to Cascade Volunteers. The Willamette Valley Visitors Association says the nonprofit, formed in 2005, has enlisted more than 3,600 volunteers who have worked nearly 200,000 hours on the forest.
One Ornament Per Household, Plus a Sweepstakes
Hunters are urged to take no more than one ornament per household, and any ornaments still out after the hunt concludes are expected to be collected by volunteers as soon as possible, per willamettevalley.org. Finding an ornament also opens the door to a sweepstakes: prizes include a two-night stay at Third Street Flats in McMinnville and a family pass to Wings and Waves Waterpark, according to KOIN.
The sweepstakes rules limit eligibility to people who actually find an ornament on a participating trail; ornaments bought at a visitor center don't count toward entry, per the association's official rules. Only one entry per household is allowed, and the rules state that multiple entries from the same household will void all of that household's entries. The sweepstakes runs alongside the hunt, from Nov. 20 through 11:59 p.m. PST on Dec. 31.
For those who can't make it onto a trail, ornaments will also be sold at visitor centers in Salem, Albany and Corvallis, as well as online through 20 Leagues, according to KOIN and Oregon Live. Proceeds from those sales benefit Cascade Volunteers, a nonprofit that supports trail maintenance and stewardship on public lands, Oregon Live reported. The tradition traces back to 2018, when the Willamette National Forest was selected to provide the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., a milestone that kicked off what has become an annual fixture of Oregon's holiday season.
