Travel Oregon Tells Tourists To 'Gorge Themselves'

By Darke Twain

HOOD RIVER, Ore.—Travel Oregon has launched a brand-new restaurant-focused marketing program called "Gorge Yourself." The plan is intended to encourage tourists to eat their way through as many eateries as possible, hopping city to city throughout the Columbia Gorge.

"It's not just about sightseeing anymore," said a spokesman from Travel Oregon, "it's about sighteating."

"It's not just about sightseeing anymore," said a spokesman from Travel Oregon, "it's about sighteating."

Participants are given a Gorge Passport, which can be stamped at participating restaurants, cafes, food trucks, breweries, roadside stands, and gas stations that serve anything vaguely edible. After collecting ten stamps, tourists receive a commemorative T-shirt that reads: I Came, I Saw, I Gorged.

To add a competitive edge, diners can post photos of their meals with the hashtag #GorgeYourself2025 for a chance to win fun prizes.

Gorge Yourself officially launches this weekend, with kickoff celebrations featuring a 60-foot charcuterie board and a “Pinot Noir Paddle” along the Hood River.

Restaurants from all over the area are jumping in. In October, Garlic & Ghost Stories at Timberline Lodge, though a bit off the intended geographic target, will feature an entire menu dedicated to the Gorge Yourself plan anyway. Cascade Locks' Bridge of the Gods will host a new year-round Bridge of the Blobs contest every weekend. Participants can earn double passport stamps. Biggs Junction is planning a similar event focused on getting bigger at Biggs.