Portland, Oregon:
Parks and Outdoor Activities

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Portlanders have a reputation: we’re known for our inability to sit still. And of that label, we couldn’t be more proud. After all, when Outside magazine calls your city one of “The 10 Greatest Places to Live,” inactivity just isn’t an option.

Let’s start with one of the city’s main bragging points – its parks. The Portland area is home to an unrivaled number of open spaces (37,000 acres to be exact). Even in the heart of downtown, you’re sure to see more green than gray as you invariably stumble across grassy oases. Portland Parks & Recreation, which offers a comprehensive outdoor recreation program, oversees parks that range in size from the 5,000-acre Forest Park (America's largest urban wilderness) to tiny 24-inch Mill Ends Park – one visitor at a time, please.

Golf Digest has rated two of Portland’s courses – Eastmoreland Golf Course and Heron Lakes Golf Course – among the nation’s top 75 public courses. Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club has hosted the 2003 U.S. Women's Open, while Sunriver hosts the Jeld-Wen Tradition , the fifth and final major championship on the Champions Tour.

Portland Online has more information on Portland's public golf courses.

An easy way to see Portland is on two wheels. Good choice, according to Bicycling magazine, which recently ranked Portland the United States’ top cycling city two years running. For bicycle rentals, visit Fat Tire Farm.

If snow sports are more your style, nearby Mount Hood has all the answers. With four ski resorts and North America’s longest ski season (including 90 summer days), this 11,235-foot peak is a mecca for skiers, ice climbers, snowboarders and hikers. The surrounding wilderness boasts spectacular trails for snowshoeing – Oregon’s newest winter sports rage – as well as cross-country skiing. Best of all, this adventure zone is just an hour’s drive from Portland’s city center.

Long recognized as a fisherman’s haven, the Pacific Northwest is rich with steelhead, trout and sturgeon. Here, when locals brag of catching a 30-pound sturgeon...chances are, they’re not fibbing.

Portland and Beyond

Year-Round Skiing

Each summer and fall, skiers and snowboarders flock to Oregon's snowcapped Mount Hood, site of North America's longest ski season - an average of 345 days per year. It takes just over an hour to get from a sidewalk cafe in Portland to the chair lift at Timberline. Prefer to leave your skis in storage? No problem. Just ride the chair lift and enjoy the spectacular views. >

A leisurely drive back to Portland affords the proper ending to an adventurous Pacific Northwest day: a pint of local microbrew or glass of Oregon Pinot noir, and a fresh salmon dinner.