Skip to main contentSkate: Pier Park
It's Burnside's hot younger sister.
11,070 square feet of ledges, rails and bowls. And a full pipe in case you're feeling loopy. Granite hubbas and a seven-stair feature make this park a skater's wet dream.
Helmet, kneepads and Vision Streetwear.
Pier Park Portland Dreamland.
Pick: Sauvie Island
Antioxidants by the pound.
Many family-owned farms with multiple varieties of juicy, juicy berries. Fingers will love the thornless blackberry patch at Columbia Farms.
Basket, sunhat and Cool Whip.
Sauvie Island berries.
Bike: Alpenrose Velodrome
Milk the turns, then milk the cows.
The dairy's velodrome track is one of 20 left in the U.S. It's also one of the steepest, with a 43-degree bank. For $5 you can rent a track bike and imitate track racer and Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein.
Bike helmet, spandex and vitamin D.
Track bike dairy.
Bike: Springwater Corridor
How can a ride to Boring be dull?
A paved, multi-use trail that extends 17 miles into rural Oregon. The route passes by buttes, wetlands, pastures, graveyards and a few ducks here and there. And with two new pedestrian bridges, it avoids traffic in inner Southeast.
Bicycle pump, spare tube and stale bread.
Boring Springwater Corridor.
Kiteboard: Walton Beach
Learn to throw a trick called the donkey dick.
With relatively flat waters and a thermal-driven wind that rarely gets above 20 mph, Walton makes a great spot for beginning kiteboarders. The sandy beach is nice, too.
16m kite, $3 parking pass.
Sauvie Island kite.
Paddle: Dragon Boats
Eragon was a little too dry for you.
Join a team (there are 24 in Portland) of synchronized paddlers as they push through the polluted waters of the Willamette aboard a floating dragon. It's an instant way to get social, and wet, while exacting vengeance on St. George.
Paddles, life vests and fire breath.
Dragon boat Portland.
Paddle: Ross Island
Listen to the cries of our national bird: BLEEAHH!
Super-still water, quiet ambience and calm strokes. Watch herons do their courtship dances on the downstream tip of the island. If you're lucky, see some bald eagles collect decorations for their nests.
Canoe or kayak, jacket, binoculars.
Paddle Ross Island.
Swim (naked): Collins Beach
Your tush needs a good scrub (wet sand is surely more effective than toilet paper).
A clothing-optional beach where 75 percent of the folks go nude or topless. The south-end volleyball courts are a popular spot for pick-up games.
Not much.
Collins Beach nude.
Sled: Fernhill Park
DIY sledding in the former valley of vandals. How to do it: Place a 5-pound block of ice at the top of a grassy hill, lay a towel over it, sit and sled.
Fernhill used to be a dump site for stolen cars until Parks and Rec rescued it, graded the hills and made it a badass place to ice-block.
Mittens, ice blocks and the Club.
Ice blocking; Fernhill dumping ground.
Throw: Bocce on the North Park Blocks
Bocce is the shit.
Grapefruit-sized balls, two clay courts and a few regulars (including, on Wednesday nights, Oregonian columnist Jonathan Nicholas) who know how to roll. The city acquired this land in 1869, when George L. Woods was governor.
Bronze balls, one pallino and vino.
Portland bocce North.
Throw: Pier Park Frisbee Golf
Getting high on your couch is starting to feel a bit stale.
Cathedral-like trees tower throughout this 18-basket course, where hand-painted arrows lead you from fairway to fairway. There's almost no underbrush, so don't fret about losing your discs. You won't.
Driver, putter and a joint.
Frisbee Pier Park.
Maim: Bike Polo
Mallets and mohawks and bikes, oh my!
Four-on-four pick-up games on the tennis courts in Alberta Park. The addictive game is fast and the players are aggressive. But regulars go easier on newbies and will take the time to explain the simple rules.
An old mountain bike, gauze.
Axles of Evil Portland.
Throw: Irving Park Basketball
If Woody Harrelson can dunk, so can you.
These courts attract the best outdoor street ballers in town. Trail Blazer Ime Udoka lists it as his favorite place to play. It's an unofficial training ground for future Division I players.
Hightops, sweat bands and a fade.
Irving Park hoops Portland.
Roll: Mount Tabor Wednesdays
Motor vehicles are banned from the roads on this day.
An extinct volcano, playgrounds and sunsets. Wednesdays are active with cyclists, longboarders and joggers enjoying the open roads.
An effigy of Henry Ford.
Tabor Portland.
Move: Eastbank Esplanade
Flash the statue of former P-town mayor Vera Katz.
A 1.5-mile multipurpose pathway along the Willamette River. The highlight is the 1,200-foot floating walkway, the longest of its kind in the United States.
Sunglasses and a trench coat.
Eastbank Esplanade.
Run: Tryon Creek Trails
You read "Choose Your Own Adventure" novels as a kid.
A multitude of fast, single-track trails that weave among Northwest flora. The various loops (.49 miles and up—runner's choice!) will work your legs, but the soft ground won't bust them up.
Short shorts, water, door No. 1 or door No. 2.
Tryon Creek trails.
Throw: Mount Tabor Horseshoe
Toss a talisman—it brings good luck.
The perfect summer throwback: two steel pegs, the clang of a perfect toss, your patented victory dance. Play all night—Mount Tabor is open till midnight.
Your own horseshoes and aim.
Horseshoe Tabor.
Run: Horse Loops at Tryon Creek
Do it for Barbaro.
Five miles of trail that amble through the 645-acre park. If you tire, there's terrestrial-mammal watching!
Trail-runners, camera, jockey.
Tryon horse loop.
Run: Terwilliger Trail
Get those buns into Kitzhaberlike shape on Pill Hill.
A popular trail within the local running scene (the Niketown running club frequents it). It pumps past OHSU and has bathroom access.
Bill Bowerman waffle runners.
Terwilliger trail.
Run: Wildwood Trail
Somebody conned you into running the Portland Marathon.
Soft, stable footing. You'll run into other joggers, but moments of solitude are possible on this 30-mile trail in the United States' largest urban park.
Running gloves and lip balm.
Wildwood trail Portland.
Skate: Burnside Skatepark
See how a couple of bags of concrete created a legend.
This is a local's spot—watch their lines before you drop. Created in 1990 by a group of DIY skaters, Burnside is revered around the world by the skateboarding elite.
Tight denim and an extra deck.
Burnside Dreamland.
WWeek 2015