In the 2025/2026 fiscal year Travel Southern Oregon is pleased to have invested $77,000 in its Strategic Partnership program to provide timely support to partners for high-value destination development or marketing projects making a positive short-term impact in Southern Oregon as a destination. For the 2025/2026 cycle, investments focused on accessibility projects; niche- and off-season marketing support; visitor-facing outdoor recreation work; dark sky product development; and destination stewardship initiatives that will make Southern Oregon a more welcoming and sustainable destination.
Travel Southern Oregon encourages all regional non-profits, non-governmental organizations, Recognized Tribes, and private businesses located and serving Southern Oregon to apply. View program Guidelines here.
Here is a summary of projects and partners that have been funded in FY25/26.
A Greater Applegate
($7,500)
A Greater Applegate received funds for their Under Applegate Skies comprehensive campaign of event and marketing support for “sky”-themed campaigns. Highlighted activities featured paragliding, winter wine tourism, and Dark Sky development projects. Participating partners included A Greater Applegate and Rogue Valley Hang-Gliding and Paragliding Association.
Friends of Lake of the Woods (FOLOW)
($12,000)
The Friends of Lake of the Woods received funding for two different projects. The first project ($10,000) tackled repairs and upgrades to the heavily used High Lakes Trail at Lake of the Woods re-condition trail and to help the trail meet ADA standards for wheelchairs and adaptive vehicles. The FOLOW Trail Clean Up project ($2000) hosted a “forest clean up day” that included partners from the Fremont-Winema National Forest, the Klamath Basin Snow Drifters Snowmobile Club, and Lake of the Woods Homeowners Association to address clean-up issues and dispose of found materials.
National Forest Foundation, Umpqua National Forest
($15,000)
The National Forest Foundation used TSO funds ($15,000) to begin the Fall Creek Falls Trailhead Restoration, work that is necessary post-Archie Creek Fire to welcome visitors back to one of the most popular sites on the Highway of Waterfalls along the North Umpqua River. Accessibility upgrades, done in conjunction with the Umpqua National Forest, include accessible restroom facilities and trail features.
Jacksonville Museum
($5,000)
The “Museum without Walls” project ($5000) will convert Jacksonville’s 1881 Old City Hall into an ADA-accessible physical base for a citywide museum highlighting the town’s multicultural history through interactive on-site exhibits. Partners for this project included Historic Jacksonville and the Southern Oregon Historical Society.
Discover Klamath
($5000)
Discover Klamath used funds to partner with Pivot Cycles athlete Brice Shirbach in his Underexposed video/promotion series. Underexposed is a self-filmed and produced series dedicated to showcasing trail advocacy and stewardship through the intersectionality of mountain biking and community. Working with the Klamath Trails Alliance, the project featured first-person experiences on the spectacular and “underexposed” biking trails of Klamath County.
Rogue Valley Mountain Bikers Association
($4,000)
The Rogue Valley Mountain Biking Association (RVMBA) used strategic partnership funds to continue its work creating safe and accessible connecting trails and loops in the Mount Ashland Watershed trail system. This funding created a 2.2-mile adaptive rider loop directly accessed from the White Rabbit Trailhead parking area. This project created a “green” loop experience for beginner riders — something the Ashland watershed currently lacks.
Travel Medford
($6,000)
TSO funding helped support out-of-region marketing for Savor Southern Oregon, a multi-day celebration of the wines and culinary delights of Rogue Valley Wine Country hosted by Travel Medford. The 2026 event attracted more than 1000 visitors from 13 states, generated overnight stays, supported local businesses, and showcased the exceptional quality of our region’s wine industry on a national stage.
Rogue Valley Food System Network
($10,000)
The Rogue Flavor Showcase, presented by the Rogue Valley Food System Network (RVFSN), is a new multi-day celebration over Labor Day of the tastes, scents, and stories of the Rogue Valley food and culinary landscape. TSO will be a premier sponsor of this event, supporting marketing and culinary event curation to help visitors celebrate Rogue Valley bounty directly with the artisans and farmers who created it.
In A Landscape
($4,000)
Founded in 2016 by classical pianist Hunter Noack, IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild™ is an outdoor concert series where America’s most stunning landscapes replace the traditional concert hall. TSO supported three outdoor concerts held in the North Umpqua area, Applegate Lake and a special Dark Sky concert at Summer Lake Hot Springs with astronomy partners Cascade Astronomers.
Storytown Ashland
($2,500)
The recently formed Storytown Ashland is a group dedicated to evolving Ashland into a year-round cultural attraction that deepens community engagement and economic vitality. TSO funds supported out-of-region marketing and promotion efforts for the inaugural Sarcasm Festival. This December comedy festival had headliners in the Angus Bowmer Theatre on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival grounds as well as throughout downtown in bars and restaurants. After a successful debut, the second Sarcasm Festival is scheduled for December 2026.
Southern Oregon Trails Alliance
($2000)
In the effort to restore hiking and biking and equestrian trails that were damaged on the Taylor Creek Fire in 2018, the Southern Oregon Trail Alliance partnered with the Rogue River -Siskiyou National Forest to restore 7 miles of trail along Taylor Creek in the Briggs Valley recreation area.
Rogue Valley ZipLine Adventures
($4000)
Rogue Valley ZipLine Adventures expanded its Shoulder Season Zipline Boost with social media and paid advertising to increase off-season visitation to Gold Hill, including to partners in the promoting the Zip, Dip & Sip Tour, a signature collaboration with Del Rio Vineyards, Rogue Rafting Company, and Laurel Hill Golf Course.
