Donald sits in the middle of hazelnut country, and the second Saturday of July is when it celebrates. Donald Daze brings a parade down Main Street, a car show, food booths, and dozens of vendors, and pretty much the whole town turns out. Oregon grows nearly all the hazelnuts in the country, and this is the town that throws the party.
The rest of the year, Donald is a few quiet blocks surrounded by orchards and French Prairie farmland. It's here because of the railroad. By the early 1900s it was a main station on the Oregon Electric Railway, named for R.L. Donald, an official with the company that built the line. Freight trains still roll through.
Make it a stop on a longer loop. Aurora's antique shops are just north, Champoeg and the Butteville Store are a short drive west, and the orchard roads are made for biking.
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