Oregon Dune Mushers' Mail Run

There's nothing like this event anywhere else in Oregon. In March of each year, the Oregon Dune Mushers take to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area for a 75-mile trek between North Bend and Florence. Teams of four to five through 10 to 12 dogs go the distance to commemorate a time when sailing ships and horse-drawn coaches were the mode of transportation along the Oregon Coast.

Making stops in Lakeside, Winchester Bay, and Florence, humans and dogs meet the challenges of roads, trails, beaches, and huge sand dunes during this two-day event. As a fundraiser for the Oregon Dune Mushers, commemorative envelopes are signed and carried by each musher. Stamps on the envelopes are canceled in each of the three stops. In the past, proceeds from the sale of these envelopes have gone towards sponsoring Oregon Mushers to the 1,200-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.

While watching this event, spectators gain an appreciation for the difficulties of pioneer life on the Oregon Coast when the Pacific Ocean beaches were used as highways. Even though the railroad to the Gardiner area was completed in 1914 and therefore halted the use of this area as a "highway," the Oregon Department of Transportation considers the beach area, between the low-tide mark to the mean high-tide mark, part of its highway system.

The idea for this event came from its founder Jim Tofflemire in 1977 after participating in the Iditarod Trail Race from Anchorage to Nome. The date of this annual event varies depending on the tide schedules. Check out their website for updated information and plan to jump in your cars and hit the Central Oregon Coast for this event.