Trip Review: Forest Park - Portland, OR

This past weekend, we got a little break from the rain in Portland. Let me assure you, this is a very rare occurrence! It rains a lot here. A LOT.

So, we decided to take Rowan out on his first hike!

I have heard about Forest Park since we moved to Portland, but have never hiked through it. We've always chosen to get out into the Gorge for hikes, to truly get away from the city. But, we didn't really want to go far (he has to eat every 4ish hours), and we didn't want a super-gnarls hike, either. We just wanted something that would get us outside in the trees and green for a few hours.

Forest Park is a public park right in the middle of the city, and it stretches for 8 miles and it's one of the country's largest urban forest reserves. It's the home to over 112 species of birds and 62 mammals, so it's teeming with life within its canopy. It's truly beautiful.

There's a long trail that runs 27 miles through the forest, called the Wildwood Trail. We obviously didn't want to hike the entirety of the trail this time (though it's a great training trail for the PCT!), so we decided to do the 3.6 mile loop through Hoyt Arboretum and past the Japanese Garden.

It was AWESOME. It's hard to believe that a forest so dense and secluded can exist in the heart of the city. The trails were well-maintained (though a bit muddy, due to the season), there wasn't a lot of people (it was Super Bowl Sunday), and there weren't too many dogs on the trail either (excluding our two pups). The total elevation climb didn't quite top 400 feet, so it was a really easy hike and great for beginners.

We used our Bob Revolution stroller during the hike, without the car seat. It was great! Rowan loved being able to look around at everything, and he even took a decent nap in the middle of our trip! It did really well on the trail and the impact on Rowan from rocks & bumps was minimal. He slept through almost everything!

Overall, I highly suggest this hike if you're in the Portland area. It's a great way to spend a few hours outside in the trees & green!