OUT AND ABOUT — ADVENTURES NEAR AND FAR

PDX Kids Calendar for in-person and virtual events in the Portland Metro area

Canemah Neighborhood Children’s Park, leading directly into Canemah Bluff Nature Park, Oregon City. Start at the playground and wind your way along through more than a mile of trails. No dogs are allowed, and be sure to keep your children on the trails as there is a significant amount of poison oak around. A good opportunity to teach children to identify it in all times of the year.

Maddax Woods/Burnside Park, West Linn. A short hike takes you through the woods, across bridges, and to several river access points. In the spring it’s a great place to help children learn to identify stinging nettle as it is prolific along the edges of the trail.

Tryon Creek State Natural Area, Lake Oswego. Many trails to explore with several bridges, children always seem to enjoy an adventure with bridges! Beautiful area and there are often events at the Nature Center.

Molalla River State Park, Canby. This state park doesn’t have the most exciting hiking trails, however there’s a nice picnic area and you can make quite an exciting day of it by taking a lunch to the park and then taking a ride on the Canby Ferry. What seems rather pedestrian to us adults can be unbelievably exciting for children and driving your car onto a “boat” to travel across the river never fails to impress the younger crowd. Ferry ride is $5 per car.

Silver Falls State Park, Silverton (near Salem). There are many beautiful waterfalls you can hike to at Silver Falls, however for little legs you won’t get a more thrilling and doable hike than the small loop around and behind South Falls.

The Witch’s Castle, Lower Macleay Park, Portland. Take the Lower Macleay trail, stay straight when it intersects with the Wildwood trail. There are certainly much better trails in Forest Park but this old stone building is so mysterious my children have continued to discuss the Witch’s Castle for years. Why ruin the mystery and let them know it’s a WPA project from the 1930’s that was damaged and never repaired? Having been a target for vandalism and graffiti for years it may not still be worth the walk.

Milo McIver State Park, Estacada. Year round, there are miles of hiking trails to walk, there is also a world-class disc golf course which may catch the eye of older children and parents. (Do beware of poison oak and stinging nettle which is prevalent here.) In the summer you can kayak or paddle board at Estacada Lake, or there are multiple river access points below the dam. Many people do short river floats from the upper to lower boat launches at McIver, quite fun for older children (class 2 rapids). Do bring life jackets if you’re playing in the river or lake!

Clackamas River Trail, Oregon City. Access from parking lot near Washington St and Agnes Ave, or Main St and Agnes Avenue. Not to be confused with the Clackamas River Trail in Estacada, this 1 mile paved path is ideal for smaller children on bikes/balance bikes. Runs along the Clackamette Cove and Clackamas River, there is a river access point in the forested area of the trail that leads down to a rocky beach where a child could spend a happy hour throwing rocks into the river. If you continue on down Washington street you will reach a pedestrian bridge (the original one lane road bridge connecting Oregon City and Gladstone, c. 1921) and can continue your walk approximately 1/2 mile through Cross Park in Gladstone.

George Rogers Park, Lake Oswego. The top of this park has a charming playground and sports fields, and the lower end has fantastic river access. Extremely popular in the summer, and for good reason. Located at the confluence of the Willamette River and Oswego Creek, there is a wide sandy beach and shallow water with a relatively mild current. Some life jackets available to borrow or bring your own.

Westmoreland Park Nature Play Playground, Portland. The premier nature play playground in the metro area, this park features logs and rocks to climb on, a slide, and a large sand and water play area that can occupy younger children for hours.

Bonneville Fish Hatchery, Cascade Locks. The display ponds (rainbow trout) are open year round. If you have quarters with you, you can purchase fish food from the dispenser which children will thoroughly enjoy throwing to the rainbow trout. Also open year round is the sturgeon viewing center, in which you can see Herman the Sturgeon, an Oregon icon, along with several of his giant friends. Most children will be enthralled to watch these prehistoric fish swim around the tank.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument, outside of Bend in the Deschutes National Forest. You could certainly spend a few days here camping at Paulina Lake or East Lake, visiting the Lava Lands visitor center or the Lava River Cave (very crowded, challenging to visit but a mile long lava tube). The easy to access and impressive Big Obsidian Flow was the highlight of visiting this area for my children. A one mile trail climbs up and weaves throughout this impressive lava flow of obsidian and pumice.