Some is copied and pasted from 2022 and 2023, but there are updates for food, or lack thereof, choices.
Overall, Eugene is a nice place. Think quaint town. But 500k homes. I can’t think of anything in Maryland to compare it to. But U of O is it. It is the entire economy.
The Good
Weather, Peace and Quiet, Air quality, Easy to get around, Escape from East Coast pace of life, Fitness and Running are embedded (or is it imbedded) in the local culture, Hayward is a gem. You can legit see Hayward from the top of Spencer’s Butte and other high points around town, and you can legit see Sisters Mountain from a viewing spot in one of the neighborhoods, but I’m not telling you where.
The BadÂ
Not much going on outside of track and field there. College is out of session, so you constantly wonder how anything stays in business.
The Ugly
Track town pizza-more on this below
Everything closes early; it’s geriatricesque how early everything closes
The Are you Serious
Roaring Rapids Pizza
This is the official tour guide to your stay in Eugene, Oregon. Â
Places to Run
- Hendricks Park. Best place in Eugene to run. Mostly single track gravel that runs through “forest.â€Â There is a rhododendron garden that is pretty cool too. But you can get several peaceful miles and it doesn’t take too long to learn the system. But def bring your phone as you can find yourself on the opposite side.
- Pre’s Trail (Alton Baker Park). A 4 mile mulched trail that is serene. Lots of people use it for walking, jogging, and training. The interior 1.25 mile loop starting by Autzen is the best part of the trail.
- Spencer’s Butte. Just a massive climb up, but worth it go up a couple times. You can see Hayward from the peak.
- Amazon. Not worth your time. A mulched trail that could be used for 1k repeats. It also connects to the larger Eugene “trail†that takes you around town. Think Gwynn Falls trail, but the opposite of Gwynn Falls. IYKYK.
- Waterfall trails-Not in Eugene, but there are waterfalls about an hour away from Eugene. Totally worth the drive. I forget what they are called, but I believe they are located in Sweet Home, Oregon.
Places to See
- Silver Falls. About 90 minutes away. 10 waterfalls on the trail. About 9 total miles for the entire trail, but you can cut it down to about 5 miles.
- Crater Lake-3 hours away if you want to drive that far. Lots of snow there now, so you probably won’t be able to drive around the entire loop, but check before you go. It’s a national park, so if you can make it, give it a shot.
- The coast/Pacific Ocean/Pacific Coast Highway. Only an hour away. I would say the coast is a gazillion times better than Ocean City, but anything times 0 is 0 (if you are going there this summer, I need to know why, like seriously, why?)
- Smith Rock State Park (Bend). Really, really, really cool place.
- If you like the outdoors, some pages to follow on Insta are:Â traveloregon, oregononly, and hike.oregon, and Eugenecasecades
- Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
- https://vacationidea.com/destinations/best-things-to-do-in-eugene-or.html
- DeSchutes Forest-there is an overlook at 5600 ft that is really cool on a clear day.
- Bend/Sisters (3 hours away- a full day trip)-the last Blockbuster is there, and there are state parks nearby.
Local Spots
- Pre’s Rock. It’s in a neighborhood. It comes up on your phone. The memorial always changes, so if you’ve gone in the past or go again, it will be different. Be careful as it’s right off the road on a curve.
- Eugene Running Company. Very small running store. Nothing extravagant to see. Sometimes they give away posters or other small items. And they may have small goodies that you won’t see at a running store around here.
- Campus. It’s not a top ten campus, but the athletic area in particular is cool to see. U of O has to have a top five athletic facility.
Places to eat
There is literally nothing to eat in Eugene. There are places that claim to have edible food, but quality places are few and far between. And those few and far places close before the sun goes down. Where do the local people eat, you ask. I don’t know; I really don’t know because A.) there is nothing to eat and B.) everything closes at 8:00 p.m.
Sizzle pizza closed as did the Wild Duck, so now there are 2 less places to eat in Eugene (Edit: looks like the Wilde Duck is back open under new management).
For lunch options, there is a Panera and Firehouse subs about 10 minutes away from Eugene. The Mountain Dew at that Panera is very high quality.
The Orange Hi-C on the West Coast is really good too, so go to Mickey Ds and get that, but nothing else.
For dinner, the recommended places to eat are: Agate Alley, Texas Roadhouse, and the Hibachi Grill near the Texas Roadhouse. There is also a place very similar to Texas Roadhouse (The American Grille?), but save yourself the learning experience and eat at Texas Roadhouse.
The Barbecue place near the stadium looks good, but it’s not. Rest assured. Some kid on WJ said it was good. He is wrong.
McMennimons looks promising, but it’s not. Awful.
There is an Italian Place near the stadium that looks good, but Max Siegel and his cronies rented it out for the entirety of World Champs last year, so I never got a chance to eat there.
The Ice Cream Place near the stadium is legit. No cap. Prince Puckler’s.
Pizza
You would think if there is any food that anyone can make it would be pizza. You would think that if there is a food you can count on to be decent or at least acceptable anywhere, it would be pizza. Except in Eugene. It’s amazing. The worst pizza in America is centralized in Eugene, Oregon. And these people there actually think it’s good. There is actually an 8.9 rating on one bite for Track Town Pizza. Let’s try .089.
There may be slightly digestible cardboard that is titled pizza, but there is no pizza in Eugene. This post is simply to lambast anyone that thinks Track Town Pizza tastes good. It’s horrible. But kudos to Tracktown for staying in business. And somehow having multiple vehicles to transport this mulch to some uninformed citizen in Eugene. Their cars look like the pizza delivery cars in Toy Story.
If you bought Blue Ribbon bread, Heinz ketchup, and Kraft American cheese, and put the bread on the bottom, the cheese on top of the bread, and ketchup on the cheese, you would have higher quality pizza than what exists in Eugene.
For anyone who potentially or disagrees in reality, please film yourself eating this garbage, because there is no way to think any of it is good.
Worst Pizza to Best pizza
Unranked-Pastini’s could be an option in the future. Looks promising. Never ate there, but will probably be disappointed, similar to any woman who has ever dated me.
Unranked-Coburg’s. Never ate there. You can try and report back.
6. Roaring Rapids-Joe Corbi’s is better. They have some mini golf course to sucker you in. Don’t fall for it.
5. Tracktown Pizza-Imagine your four year old kid taking a ball of cheese and claiming it’s pizza. That is track town pizza. And their fountain Mountain Dew is terrible, so don’t waste your time.
4.Abby’s legendary. If it says it’s legendary, it must be legendary. It’s basically pizza Hut. And pizza Hut is horrendous.
3. Agate Alley. Loses the top spot from 2022. Kind of the yuppy style of pizza. Femke Bol did not order from pizza when she was there. I would know. But I definitely didn’t stalk her. Only get the Margherita pizza-the 5 cheese is awful and greasy.
2.Dominoes.  A large is $7.99 (if you order online). The others are so bad, it makes Dominoes a viable option.
1.Pegasus. Decent pizza. Good quality. You can actually eat the entire pizza. Decent cheese. Decent sauce. About a 6.5 one bite, but the best you’ll find (so far) in Eugene. It has a couple locations, but the on campus location was the better option, and it stays open until 10 p.m.
RIP Sizzle-Decent Pizza and it used to be open until 3 a.m. You are gone but not forgotten.
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