From downtown Eugene, head a few blocks south to 13th Avenue, then east to the University of Oregon campus (visitor information available at Oregon Hall, Agate St. and 13th Ave., 541/346-3111, www.uoregon.edu), bounded by Franklin Boulevard, 11th and 18th Avenues, and Alder and Moss Streets.

With an enrollment of over 20,000 students, you might be expecting a bureaucratic, impersonal feeling; instead the grounds of the campus are graced by architecturally inviting buildings dating back to the school’s creation in the 1870s, as well as 400 varieties of trees.

Deady Hall, the oldest building on campus, was built in 1876. Also noteworthy are two museums on campus: the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum. The quiet and tranquility of the campus are sustained by a ban on vehicular traffic beyond 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street.

A free campus tour leaves from Oregon Hall weekdays at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. But unless you’re a prospective student, you’re better off just picking up the map and setting your own pace.

Across from the Schnitzer Museum of Art is the University of Oregon Library. On the second floor, the Oregon Collection (541/346-3468) has books and periodicals about the state in open stacks—a great place to plan trips or learn about the region. The nationally famous map library on the first floor can also augment the trip-planning process with its extensive collection of all sorts of maps, its helpful staff, and its well-tuned photocopying machines.

This campus has often been selected by Hollywood to portray the ivy-covered halls of academe, most notably in the comedy Animal House.

If you wander the north part of the University of Oregon complex toward Franklin Boulevard, you’ll see majestic and rare trees (including a Chinese dawn redwood) dotting the landscape between the law and journalism schools. Interesting outdoor sculptures also liven up a stroll on the campus.