Outdoors

Portlanders have a reputation: we’re known for our constant activity. 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,” being a couch potato 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.  The Portland Parks & Recreation offers a comprehensive outdoor recreation program and 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.  Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation provides facilities all of the west-side suburbs.  It must be the influence of Nike, because you have never seen public facilities this nice, from ball fields to indoor and outdoor basketball courts to skate parks and hiking trails.

Portland has great golf! Golf Digest has rated two of Portland’s courses – Eastmoreland Golf Course and Heron Lakes Golf Course – among the nation’s top 75 municipal courses.  Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club has two courses which rank in the “top 50 courses you can play” for the US.   If your up for a short drive,  than Bandon Dunes or Bend should be your where you go.  Bandon Dunes has quickly become a destination resort.  With 4 courses ranking in the World’s Top 25  list, according to Golf Magazine, there is no way to go wrong.  And Bend has numerous tracks including Pronghorn and Sunriver’s Crosswater which rank among the Top 100 courses in America.  There definitely is no shortage of places to turn when you want World Class golf  in Oregon.

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.  In the works is a European style bike rental system. 

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.  Fly fishing along the Deshutes River is considered to be some of the best in the world.  Another great reason to make the 2.5 hour drive to Bend.

Really there is something for everyone in Portland and an abundance of social clubs and outlets to share your passion.