Impulse bought snow shoes; where do I take them?

As the title suggests, I've just impulsively (fear-based) bought a pair of snow shoes. I've not done any snow shoeing in the past. Where are some must-see places I can access with these bad boys? Would like to stay in the state of OR, or Southern WA. 

Bonus points for mountains, approaches to rock climbing, or other natural wonders (crater lake, etc.).

I think you should take them to crater lake.    

Search Oregon sno parks, they're all over the place and most have snow shoe trails. The meisner/swampy lakes trail system out side of Bend is really pretty, no climbing, but there are nice views of the cascades and some very cozy warming huts. When there's enough snow you can also do many of the hiking trails in the cascades on snow shoes, one year I did the loop around sahlie falls in about 2ft of snow and it was incredible.

https://www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/disposal/Pages/skrts.aspx

The dump!?   

Yeah, Sahalie/Blue Pool and Crater Lake are on my list. Good idea about the sno parks. 

Any info on mountainous walk ups? It would be fun to a Sister/nearby mtn. summit in some snow. 

dallas kloke has a pretty good free PDF, "winter climbs - one day ascents" or something like that.  some good ones in there.

P Cwrote:

The dump!?   

Yeah, Sahalie/Blue Pool and Crater Lake are on my list. Good idea about the sno parks. 

Any info on mountainous walk ups? It would be fun to a Sister/nearby mtn. summit in some snow. 

You could try the winter route on Mt. St. Helens: mountainproject.com/route/1…

Take them back

I’m very curious what exactly caused a “fear based snowshoe purchase”… 

join the local mountain club or join meet up and be a snow shoe enjoyer and good luck with your sore adductors (it's a sore like horseback riding gives)

maybe do yoga classes before and after snowshoeing 

Take a snow shoe class! It will be fun!
 

I'm getting a lot of fun, mixed responses here. 

Edit: I wrote more here, I'm not sure why only the first sentence/paragraph posted..

Edit 2: it did it again on my edit?? I've lost several paragraphs by now, and I'm just about ready to forget about it. In short, I wrote a bunch about the fear based impulse buy, which I refuse to rehash again, so you're left to your imagination. And I thanked Slim for the heads up on a fun old book, but noted it was centered too much about the northern cascades for the adventures I have in mind. 

How often do people go snowshoeing and actually need snow shoes? 

Is this a riddle? Or just something I don't understand due to inexperience? 

Snowshoes are a little better than post-holing, but are still a poor choice for traveling in snow. You're better off getting skis. If you don't want to spend the money on AT skis, but still want to get out and explore, I'd look for some metal-edged cross country skis with three-pin bindings. You could probably find an old pair with boots pretty cheap at a thrift store or online.

take the snowshoes back to where u bought then for an exchange to get micro spikes and adjustable poles to go walk in the woods alone safely 

Some serious hate on snow shoes here. Anybody care to substantiate their claims? This is a chance to educate someone new to all of this. 

Skis were considered, but we both know so little about them. The choices/types, all of the components involved, etc. Snowshoes seemed like an easy way to get out and explore a little more efficiently without the educational and financial (to some degree) barrier to entry. 

P Cwrote:

Some serious hate on snow shoes here. Anybody care to substantiate their claims? This is a chance to educate someone new to all of this. 

Skis were considered, but we both know so little about them. The choices/types, all of the components involved, etc. Snowshoes seemed like an easy way to get out and explore a little more efficiently without the educational and financial (to some degree) barrier to entry. 

Snowshoeing is a better way to travel than postholing, as they do provide flotation. Takes no training. Snowshoeing is fun. But you should be able to find somewhere on your own to use them. It's just hiking in the snow.  

A lot of the trails up in nw Washington are above snow line and below tree line. The trees are tightly packed and it can be hard to maneuver in skis. In the dense forest here it can make sense to snowshoe. I think where the snowy terrain is more open then skis would make more sense.

If you use them then they are the right tool. 

P Cwrote:

Some serious hate on snow shoes here. Anybody care to substantiate their claims? This is a chance to educate someone new to all of this. 

Skis were considered, but we both know so little about them. The choices/types, all of the components involved, etc. Snowshoes seemed like an easy way to get out and explore a little more efficiently without the educational and financial (to some degree) barrier to entry. 

In some cases, snowshoes are superior to skis. They are better in trees and on narrow trails or on steep terrain. And, snowshoes are cheaper and have no learning curve (which is why I've never understood why there are snowshoe classes).

If you need flotation to get to an objective, snowshoes are worthwhile. But snowshoeing for the sake of snowshoeing is a drag. I have been hiking in the Colorado Rockies for almost 20 years and rarely bring them. Exceptions are when there has been a significant snowfall or I will be travelling off trail (or on a little used trail). In almost all cases, a day or two after a snowfall trails are packed down enough that they can be negotiated in running shoes and microspikes. Fast and light is much more fun than trudging along on snowshoes. I will never understand why people are on trails in snowshoes that I can walk on in running shoes, but I appreciate their trail breaking efforts.

YMMV if you're heavy.

Snow shoes are just one tool in the quiver, generally best in flattish terrain where you get frequent snowfall.  Much easier to carry on your back once the going gets steeper than skis.  There are trails/roads up by Paradise on Mt Rainier where they often are a good option.  When the avy danger is high I've just hiked logging roads in my snow shoes for a workout, kinda nice to have a normally busy cirque all to yourself.  When you need em they're great and the rest of the time they can stay with your vehicle or on your pack.