A Local's Guide to Portland's Best Nature Parks
- Kati Cooke
- Feb 9, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
After years of exploring Portland and its suburbs, I've compiled a detailed list of my favorite parks close to the city. I have my gripes about living here, but I must admit we have the best access to nature within city limits of any major city I know of.
You can find my updated guide to Portland's suburban nature parks here:
You can download the .pdf below to read about 14 of my favorite parks, mostly in southwest Portland, but with a few surprises thrown in. As a sneak peek, here are my winners for my imaginary Portland Parks awards show:
🏆Overall Winner: Forest Park (duh)
🏆Best Place to People-Watch: Mount Tabor
🏆Best Kayaking: Cook Park
🏆Best (Flat) Trail Running: Tualatin Hills Nature Park
🏆Best Super-Secret Hidden Gem: Camassia Natural Area
🏆Best Birdwatching: Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge
🏆Best Dog Park: Sandy River Delta
🏆Best Historical Furnace in a Park Located Next to a Racially Insensitive Apartment Complex in a City with a Private Lake and No Chain Restaurants Allowed: George Rogers Park
If you're interested in learning more about a specific park, check out some of my blog posts here:
Tualatin's annual February heart treasure hunt
A waterfall in Beaverton!
An art installation in Forest Park
My longer guide to Forest Park
Happy park-ing, my friends, and may you keep the SADS at bay until springtime! Download the local's guide to Portland's best nature parks below, or click on the link to find the guide in a web format (no download needed)
Comments