Adventure into spring.

Byline: MIKE STAHLBERG The Register-Guard

SPRING ARRIVES Wednesday, and the start of spring vacation for most Oregon schools and colleges is a scant 10 days away. That means it's time for Oregonians to shake off their "cabin fever" with a healthy dose of outdoors activity.

To help motivate those with the winter blahs to get out, we've assembled a list of some of the season's top outdoor options available within a couple hours' drive of the Eugene-Springfield area.

Since the listing is inspired by school vacations, it is appropriate that all of these activities are suitable for school-age youngsters.

In fact, our first three suggestions are educational in nature, as they involve trips to Oregon natural science museums - two of which have special programs beginning during spring vacation.

Start with the Oregon Coast Aquarium Ocean Exploration Station in Newport, which will unveil a new exhibit called "Under the Lily Pad" on March 23, the first day of spring break.

With the help of aquarium volunteer interpreters, visitors will get a chance to dip into the microscopic life of a pond community, including some of the unusual plants and animals that serve as pillars of that community.

Learn what's lurking beneath the pond surface, which includes perch and bluegill, newts and salamanders and frogs of the tree and red-legged variety. Tune into the "creature chorus" and hear the symphony of sounds made by various animals living in and around the pond. See the world through an insect's eyes with the aquarium's "insect goggles."

Of course, the Coast Aquarium offers many other exhibits, including the popular "Passages of the Deep," a 200-foot clear underwater tunnel that snakes through three ocean habitats. The aquarium, located in Newport's south beach area, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10.25 for adults, $6.25 for children ages 4-13. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.aquarium.org.

The High Desert Museum near Bend plans a special "Kid's Discovery Day" on March 27. From churning butter to learning how pioneer children carved their own toys out of soap, kids (and their parents) will get many hands-on opportunities to experience everything the museum has to offer. Learn what it's like to use a real cross-cut saw or how it feels to dress up as a giant bird of prey. Music, games, crafts, activities and story-telling sessions are planned throughout the museum's outdoor and indoor exhibits.

Those exhibits include the opportunities to watch porcupines eat and otters at play, view a golden eagle up-close, visit a 1950s Indian reservation, pump water from the well at a settler's cabin, and experience the dark chill and eerie sounds of an underground mine.

Kids' Discovery Day runs from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and is included with museum admission of $8.50 adults, $7.50 seniors (65-plus) and youth (13-18), $4 children (5-12), and free for children 4 and younger. All admission prices are good for two consecutive days. The museum, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is located south of Bend at 59800 S. Highway 97. Contact: 541-382-4754 or www.highdesert.org.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland isn't an outdoor experience, but it does offers two great vicarious outdoor adventures via its Omnimax theatre and is a great place to spend that a rainy afternoon.

Currently showing on the giant-curved Omnimax screen are "Amazon" and "Thrill Ride."

"Amazon" takes viewers on a journey along the mightiest river in the world, the Amazon, to discover its wonders, inhabitants and remarkable healing powers. Meet an exotic menagerie of animals including the jaguar, tapir and sloth, as well as aquatic creatures including electric eels, piranhas and pink dolphins and be introduced to the Zoe, the most recently contacted indigenous tribe in the Amazon rain forest and one of the many who call the Amazon home.

"Thrill Ride" takes the audience on roller-coaster rides that some viewers would never dare to attempt, including trips on Big Shot at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and the roller coasters Kumba and Montu, located at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. And seeing the rides through the eye of the large-format IMAX camera, projected on to a five-story domed screen that envelopes the viewer, turns movie watching into a white-knuckle experience.

Admission to the Omnimax theater is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors (age 63-plus) and youths (3-13).

While there, you might want to check out OMSI's current featured exhibit, "Brain: The World Inside Your Head." Designed to appeal to all ages, "Brain" employs innovative special effects, 3-D reproductions, virtual reality, hands-on learning activities and interactive technology to help demystify the inner workings of the brain.

OMSI is just off Interstate 5 on the east side of the Willamette River in Portland. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays- Sundays. For general OMSI information, call [phone] or visit www.omsi.edu.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of traditional outdoor activities worth a spring adventure. Here are our suggestions:

SLIDE OUT OF WINTER: Skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing are generally thought of as "winter sports." But the fact is that some of the most pleasant days on snow are those in the spring of the year, when you can shed heavy parkas and soak up the sunshine in shorts and T-shirts. (Just remember plenty of high-powered sun screen.)

Look for the ski resorts to be packed.

But cross-country skis and snowshoes are passports to snow fun without the crowds.

A warm spring day is an ideal time to give cross-country skiing or snowshoeing a try if you haven't done it before. It gives you a chance to focus on learning a new sport in more pleasant conditions than you might encounter in the dead of winter.

Also, the new moon is on March 28. Anytime during spring break week should be a good time to try moonlight skiing or snowshoeing.

HIKE A WATERFALL: Spring's arrival means longer and (hopefully) warmer days, melting snow packs and more water flowing out of the mountains. A good time, in other words, to check out some of Oregon's many waterfalls.

Silver Falls State Park east of Salem is a classic family falls-hiking destination, and its seven-mile long "Trail of Ten Falls" is probably the state's best. Shorter hikes are available for those not up to walking the full seven miles.

Another good option is to explore the waterfalls of the upper Umpqua River Basin, which includes 25 waterfalls deemed worthy of inclusion in "Thundering Waters," a waterfall guide published by the Umpqua National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, the Roseburg Chamber of Commerce and the Colliding Rivers Information Center in Glide. Check with any of those agencies for waterfall hike information in eastern Douglas County.

EYE AN ELK: A fairly new elk-viewing opportunity is available at Finley Wildlife Area, about a half-hour's drive north of Eugene on Highway 99. Elk from the Coast Range discovered a few years ago that the waterfowl refuge was also a good place for them to hang around. Numbers have increased from a handful at first to "80 or 90 animals" now, according to refuge managers.

Groups of large bulls can often be seen, but the best viewing time is early morning or late afternoon.

Most of the wildlife area remains off-limits to the public (to avoid disturbing waterfowl) until April 1. However, the elk can generally be seen from the main road through the refuge or from the Woodpecker Loop area, which are open year-round. One of their favorite hangouts is an oak savannah-type hill just north of the headquarters building.

"You can also see them at times from Bruce Road, the county road that bisects the refuge," said Jim Houck, assistant manager, who notes that there's more than elk to see.

"All kinds of ducks and geese are still out there, along with several bald eagles, lots of shore birds, raptors and hawks," Houck said.

TACKLE A TROUT, STALK A STEELHEAD: Fishing's fun most anytime of the year, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife makes it easy in the spring by planting "catchable" trout in many waters that are open to year-round angling. Scheduled to be stocked on the eve of spring break are Dorena Reservoir (with 7,000 trout), Cottage Grove Reservoir (5,000), Siltcoos Lake (1,250) and Junction City Pond (1,125 - including some foot-long and "trophy" trout.)

Meanwhile late March often produces plenty of bright winter steelhead in the Siuslaw, Umpqua and Coquille river systems, and in the Santiam rivers.

WATCH FOR WHALES: Oregon's spring "Whale Watch Week" is March 23-30, and volunteers will be at 29 of the usual 30 "Whale Watching Spoken Here" sites along the Oregon Coast. (Cook's Chasm will be unavailable because of highway bridge replacement activities nearby.)

Your chances of sighting northward-bound gray whales should be good, as high numbers of whales were counted during the winter watch week tally of the south-bound migration. The 30 sites documented 1,471 whale sightings and 16,615 visitors. These totals represent the eighth-highest whale count and fifth-highest visitor count in 14 years of data.

FLY A KITE: March is often a windy month, and what better to do in the wind than fly a kite? Coastal beaches are particularly suited for this activity, and most coastal communities have kite shops where you can pick up one of the latest models.

CAPTION(S):

The Register-Guard A tree frog is part of the "Under the Lily Pad" exhibit featured at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. OREGON COAST AQUARIUM The Register-Guard The Register-Guard Spring could involve skiing in warm-weather gear (above) or a hands-on day of discovery at the High Desert Museum (right) near Bend. This brightly colored parrot is a star of "Amazon," a film at OMSI in Portland. OMSI Anglers of all ages can take their chances at many spots, including area ponds and lakes that have been stocked with catchable fish. The Register-Guard HIGH DESERT MUSEUM