I live about 35 minutes south on Interstate 5 from Grants Pass. Medford Oregon is conservative but not quite as conservative as Grants Pass area.
Ashland is another 20 minutes south from Medford and it is very liberal, a college town hosting Southern Oregon University. It has a very nice though gentrified downtown area. A world class Shakespearean theater company is in Ashland so if you like plays it's a great place to visit.
Medford is about 75,000 and Ashland is around 20,000 population.
I agree that the Redwoods is an awesome trip, and not very far from Grants Pass ... just a short day trip. The coast is not much further from the Redwoods and traveling north up the coast there are wonderful vistas of the ocean. Through the Redwoods, up the coast a bit and back to Grants Pass is a great day trip.
If you like caves there is the Oregon Caves National Monument near Grants Pass, also on the way to the Redwoods. Big, big, big caves.
And my favorite, though it would not be a short journey from Grants Pass, is Crater Lake. I believe Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the USA. Beautiful to say the least.
Where are you coming from AverageJoe90?
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