Mount Hood Village, Oregon

Clackamette Park is known for its prime destination right off of the freeway and across from Oregon City's most popular shopping area, but it's frequented for its public boat dock, RV facilities, and handicap-accessible picnic benches. While the rest of Portland's parks freeze over or flood, Clac...

You'll never stumble upon Canemah Park unless you're really looking for it. Tucked away in the hills of Oregon City above the Locks, this residential park has a miniature-sized set of everything you'd expect in a children's park: Playground, picnic benches, bathrooms, and wide, forested trails. D...

Sitting 400 feet above the city with views of Mt. Hood and Portland doesn't sound to bad right?? Mount Tabor is located in Southeast Portland and is a once active volcano. There are 196 acres of park for you to explore. In order to photograph the best pictures of Mt. Hood I highly suggest gettin...

Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon, holds the unique distinction of being the world's smallest city park, a title it earned in 1971 from the Guinness Book of World Records. Measuring just two feet in diameter, this tiny park is located in the median of Naito Parkway, and it’s easy for passersby t...

Portlandia, the iconic sculpture by Raymond Kaskey positioned above the entrance of the Portland Building in downtown Portland, Oregon, is the second-largest copper repoussé statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty. This striking figure was designed to reflect the city’s seal, depi...

The Columbia River Gorge is full of hidden gems, especially for new folks like me. I just found out about this little trail right in the middle of Mosier Oregon.  The trail is great for new hikers, and if you have some friends visiting this would be the perfect trail to take them on if they don'...

Coyote Wall is a relatively uncrowded trail system in the Columbia River Gorge that provides outstanding views of the Columbia River. The trail system is made up primarily of user-created mountain biking trails, allowing hikers a choose-your-own-adventure approach to exploring the area. Start o...

The International Rose Garden located in Washington Park near downtown Portland is a must stop on your visit to the Rose City. The City of Roses, as Portland is known, won't let you down. Portland is host to the largest Rose Test Garden in the U.S. The 5 acre park, with over 7,000 rose bushes, an...

On Saturday, I slid into the backseat alongside weekend belongings crammed in the car trunk. Backpacks with patches and streaks of dust. Bags of food that could be cooked over the flames of a fire. We drove south on the 5, leaving Portland and crossing through Salem, as Lake Street Dive albums p...

While the Portland Japanese Garden is a popular place for tourists, it's also a favorite for Portland residents as it's located right in Washington Park close to trails and across from the Rose Garden. The Japanese Garden also just unveiled its Cultural Crossing expansion in April 2017, which inc...

Take the train to Washington Park and hike through Hoyt Arboretum. This will bypass a few miles of Wildwood Trail, but you won't miss much. In the arboretum, the trail twists and turns through the trees, will smaller trails jutting off to the sides, through other groups of trees (each trail is a...

Founded in 1928 to conserve endangered species and educate visitors, Hoyt Arboretum is a 190-acre park in the forest above Portland's NW area. It's only 15 minutes from downtown! There are 12+ miles of trails to explore, my favorite is the Redwood Trail that takes you through towering redwoods a...

Pittock Mansion offers a one of kind view of downtown Portland. This is a historic site that allows public access throughout the day and night. Parking is available at Pittock until 9pm but if you wish to visit the grounds after hours you can park at the bottom of the driveway, walk around the ga...

The Paul Bunyan Statue in Portland, Oregon, stands as a unique tribute to the state's centennial and the quirky roadside attractions of mid-20th century America. Erected in 1959 to commemorate Oregon's 100th anniversary of statehood, this 31-foot-tall statue was custom-built from concrete and met...

Have you heard of the PNW trolls? There are 6 total in Washington and Oregon.  Ole Bolle, the Portland Troll, is an art installation located at the Nordic Northwest Campus in Tualatin Valley, Oregon. Crafted by Danish artist Thomas Dambo, Ole Bolle is part of the “Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bi...

The trail is a washed out, old mining road making its way through a lush forest with a mix of ferns, moss covered trees, and towering Douglas Firs with trees blown over from wind storms lining both sides of the trail. I call those Big Foot traps. The trail comes to a fork, stay to the left you ar...