Life with ArielPortland has been on my roadtrip list for a long time. I finally made it happen in June this year. I love all its nature but not so much the downtown. The converge of Willamette River and Columbia River at the city makes everything different. It brings lives to the area and adds to its beauty. Ariel loves the various types of greens and shaded trails. Hiking with dogs in summer is not that miserable afterall.
Hike in City Parks
Nothing is better than clean and pretty urban parks when traveling to a city with a dog. Portland has numerous of them. The ones I went to during my two-day stay are all lush green, shaded, and beautiful, a drastic contrast to California’s summer scenes.
Forest Park
Forest Park is a 5,200-acer forest in the northwest part of the city. It has hundreds of dog friendly trails. There are options for you to hike casually or challenge yourself. Some trails are shared with bikes. A small downside of being close to the city is that you can hear city noise from the trails and that the park can get crowded. However, it’s big enough for you to explore and find peace. I recommend the Dogwood Wild Cherry Loop Trail for a good but not tiring workout.
Washington Park
Compared to Forest Park, Washington Park is much smaller and has more urban features such as zoo, forestry museum, arboretum, rose garden, memorial site, playgrounds, etc. It’s beautifully designed and a local favorite.
Laurelhurst Park
Laurelhurst Park is much smaller than Forest Park and Washington Park. But it’s very scenic with a beautiful lake, numerous walk paths around the lake, big lawns, and playgrounds for kids. It was designed by the same artist that designed Central Park in NYC. The park is popular among locals. So parking can be hard and you will see crowds at all hours.
Indulge at Food Trucks
Dining in with a dog can be hard. Luckily, Portland has a well-known food truck culture. On N Mississippi Ave, there’s a block of tasty food trucks called the Mississippi Marketplace. They offer various types of cuisines: Indian, Mediterranean, American, Japanese, and Mexican, and have outdoor seating. There’s also a brewery in the marketplace and a coffee shop across the street to grab drinks. Moreover, a few blocks down, there are boutique shops, coffee houses, bakeries, and the famous Blue Star donut. Many of them allow dogs. I highly recommend this street.
Walk around Portland Downtown
I’m not a big fan of Portland’s downtown area even though it has a lot to do. There are so many homeless and drug-heads wandering around that I was scared to walk Ariel. If you want to check it out, I recommend Powell’s City of Books, the largest used and new bookstore in the world. It has four stories and occupies an entire block. Different sections are color coded. It’s quite impressive. I could easily spend a whole afternoon there. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow dogs. So plan accordingly if you have your pooch with you.
Visit Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area
Columbia River Gorge is stunning and very dog friendly. I only had time to spend one day there. But one day can’t do it justice. There are just so many areas to explore. Ariel and I focused on the waterfall corridor this time. We saw and Ariel drank from many beautiful waterfalls that day.
The Vista House at Crown Point
Driving from Portland to the Columbia River Gorge, you won’t miss Interstate 84. It’s a scenic drive right next to the Columbia River and the highway even has a lookout area for it. The Vista House sits near the highway and is a must-see. This over 100 years old observatory looks like a castle and has an outdoor viewing platform around it. From the platform, you will get free, stunning panoramic views of Columbia River and its surrounding forests. Even though dogs can’t enter the observatory, they are allowed on the viewing platform, which is good enough for me. If you do want to take a look inside the observatory, make sure to check their hours. They are closed from Tuesdays to Thursdays.
Multnomah Falls
No one should leave Oregon without seeing its tallest waterfall, Multnomah Falls. This magnificent waterfall has two layers and plunges to the ground. The top layer is over 570ft tall and the bottom layer is 56ft tall. Although this waterfall doesn’t have the most volume, the height alone is already pretty impressive. It’s a very popular and crowded travel destination. You need to make reservations to enter from May to September, and dogs are allowed. Each reservation is a one-hour window. You can’t enter before you window, but you can stay longer than one hour.
At the foot of the waterfall, there’s a well-maintained viewing platform that even provides snacks and drinks. You can also walk up a little to a bridge where you get closer to the falls. However, only the top fall is visible from there. Both locations are extremely crowded. If you want to get away from people, you can climb around 800ft on the Multnomah Falls Trail and get to the top of the falls. You will have a peaceful time and get amazing views of the Gorge on your way.
Wahkeena Falls
I recommend seeing Multnomah Falls and Wahkeena Falls together so that you can save the hustle of finding parking twice during busy summer season. They are connected by the Return Trail which is dog friendly. From Multnomah Falls, it took us only about 15 minutes to get to the trailhead of Wahkeena Falls. At the trailhead, you will see a cascading waterfall next to the sign of Wahkeena Falls. That’s the lower section of Wahkeena Falls. To see the section with bigger volume, you need to hike about 0.2 miles up. You won’t miss it following the trail because the air naturally cools down as you get close thanks to the big volume from the falls.
Fairy Falls
From the Wahkeena Falls, if you keep hiking for another mile, you will see another beautiful and fairy waterfall: Fairy Falls. I won’t lie the hike to it was not easy on a humid and hot day. Although it was not long, we had to ascend about 900ft in 0.8 miles. That was intense. But the trail was beautiful and quiet the entire way. When you see large amounts of water cascading and the trail becomes rocky, you are getting close. Fairy Falls is only about 20ft tall, but the fan-shaped waterfall is delicate and fairy, as suggested by its name. The edgy rocks on the cliff is distributed in a special way that divides the water into multiple misty and lacy streams, making this waterfall like a princess dress.
Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls is easily accessible from Interstate 84. From the parking lot, there are two trails: one 0.3-mile trail to the Bridal Veil Falls and another 0.2-mile hike to overlook the Columbia River. Both are flat and easy. We did both because Ariel needed the exercise. If you have already seen the views from The Vista House, then the overlook trail won’t impress you. On the other hand, the Bridal Veil Falls doesn’t disappoint. Just like the name indicates, the waterfall looks like a two-layer bridal veil and has decent amount of volume.
