OT - Things to do in Portland/OR?

[Teen Girl Squad]

I know Lakers fans may not normally be welcome but inspired by a topic on our board, I want to ask advice for cool things I can do on a Road Trip where Portland is one of the stops (driving up through Vancouver and back). I've always wanted to go but now I realize that outside of Voodoo Donuts (which is probably tourist hell), I really don't know much. I like hiking but this trip won't involve day long and/or strenuous marches so scentic spots/easy hikes work if you've got suggestions. Eugene and Corvallis are both on the way so maybe visiting those schools campus? If there are any super unique eats I'm all ears but I don't want to do nothing but pig out.

Thanks for any tips you may have.

[Pattycakes]

Don't know what you enjoy doing in Los Angeles, but a lot of people enjoy our Saturday market on the weekends, Portland Waterfront, Shanghai Tunnels, Cathedral Park, Kelley Point Park, Tryon Creek, Forest Park, Laurelhurst Park, food joints and businesses of N Mississippi Ave, shops/bars/restaurants of NW Portland (23rd Ave particularly-check out "salt and straw"), Washington Park/Oregon Zoo, Council Crest, SE Portland is it's own world entirely, Mt Tabor Park, Ground Kontrol Barcade, Wunderland...of course there's much more, but these are just a few of my favorite spots. Of course if you're willing to drive 30-40 mins outside of Portland, the hikes are absolutely breathtaking around Multnomah Falls...my favorite being "Tunnel Falls" a 13 mile round trip hike that takes about 5 hours and is just sexy. As far as Eugene and Corvallis, I may be biased as a former college student in the area...but I find pretty forgettable. Good luck!

[jhern87]

I know Lakers fans may not normally be welcome but inspired by a topic on our board, I want to ask advice for cool things I can do on a Road Trip where Portland is one of the stops (driving up through Vancouver and back). I've always wanted to go but now I realize that outside of Voodoo Donuts (which is probably tourist hell), I really don't know much. I like hiking but this trip won't involve day long and/or strenuous marches so scentic spots/easy hikes work if you've got suggestions. Eugene and Corvallis are both on the way so maybe visiting those schools campus? If there are any super unique eats I'm all ears but I don't want to do nothing but pig out.

Thanks for any tips you may have.

Voodoo is quite overrated, tbh. However if you're hell bent on trying them there's a location on the SE side of the bridge that's usually much less crowded than the downtown location.

Assuming you're 21, the thing to do in Portland is hit the breweries. Often ranked the top city in the US for beer, there's a number of them around town and if that's your thing then you can't go wrong. One of these might be fun to do along with:

https://www.brewgrouppdx.com/brewcycle/
https://www.brewgrouppdx.com/brewbarge/

The food scene is also something Portland is known for. For that I'd just recommend getting on Yelp and searching for whatever kind of food you like and checking out highly rated places.

[Teen Girl Squad]

Sweet. Definitely want to hit the breweries (my friend lives for them). Thanks.

[Masterfully]

If you do head up the Gorge I highly recommend Oneonta Falls. It's a short hike that involves a little climbing over fallen trees and wading. The scenery is spectacular and a bit otherwordly.

Right in town there is a section of the Wildwood trail that's nice. Start at Lower Macleay Park and hike up to Pittock Mansion. You can do a little shopping/fooding on Trendy Third street while in the area of Lower Macleay.

[Case2012]

Smoke lots of really good weed legally, and go look at fully naked woman at the 10 billion strip clubs.

If you get Hungry, eat anywhere (you can't go wrong), just know you'll gain 5lbs per meal and every sandwich costs $15.

Lastly, I hope you like IPA's because Portland has more of a selection of those than strip clubs.

*Actually Portland really sucks, you should avoid this place all together. Tell all your friends too. Portland = Lame AF.

[Qwigglez]

If you are into ice cream go to Salt n Straw. That place is pretty legit.

[Jsun947]

If you do head up the Gorge I highly recommend Oneonta Falls. It's a short hike that involves a little climbing over fallen trees and wading. The scenery is spectacular and a bit otherwordly.

I second this one. The hike is literally up a stream so you get wet. For small stretches water is about 5 feet up and can't be avoided. But it's an awesome short hike, less than a mile round trip.

[Agenda42]

Best scenic spot I can think of is Lost Lake. http://lostlakeresort.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Mt-Hood.jpg

[HoopsFanAZ]

1. If you like wind surfing and being in the outdoors, go to Hood River in the Columbia Gorge (60 miles due east of Portland). Best place for wind surfing outside of Hawaii, I'm told. http://hoodriver.org I grew up there in one of the most beautiful valleys I've ever seen ... then windsurfing was "discovered" after I left and tourism went UP in addition to the skiing on Mount Hood, hiking, camping, fishing, etc. Multnomah Falls on the way there is outstanding.
2. Beer -- McMenamins microbrew, a number of locations, check out the site ... http://www.mcmenamins.com
3. Powell's City of Books -- a city block and several levels -- need a book on any subject, go to the downtown store. Mecca for books.
http://www.powells.com/locations
4. Pizza -- Escape From New York Pizza. Others have their favorites, but it's in Northwest Portland, and one I religiously hit on my yearly trip north from Arizona. https://www.facebook.com/EscapeFromNewYorkPizza
5. Go to the website for Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives -- https://www.flavortownusa.com/states/oregon
6. Portland is a spread out area of smaller cities/suburbs/etc. BUT the downtown area feels like a real city and the many bridges spanning the Willamette are pretty cool. Get a good trip advisory for driving because peak traffic takes a while.
7. Both Nike and Adidas are headquartered in the Portland area.

In Eugene, the campus is gorgeous, Hayward Field is Mecca for track, run or bike on Pre's Trails along the river, and Sy's Pizza west of campus still rocks -- decades of great pizza.

[blazersbucs40]

Best advise if you will be in the downtown area just hang in NW part. The downtown area has gone downhill, and NW pdx is so much better

[Waynearchetype]

Blue Star Donuts, a million times tastier than Voodoo.

[Waynearchetype]

Also check out McMenamins Edgefield. It is a large campus of some kind, many buildings, all redone for bars/hotel. Cool atmosphere, lots of live music on the weekends. McMenamins is a great NW chain of redone historic buildings.

[Teen Girl Squad]

Sweet. I'll bump up this thread to let you know what happened.

[acidfrehley]

That's my dream trip.

One day...

[monopoman]

Sweet. I'll bump up this thread to let you know what happened.

Another cool place that just opened up is Pine Street Market a bunch of bars/restaurants opened up their own food court type thing downtown.

http://www.pinestreetpdx.com/

The place has great food and you can even get the soft serve version of Salt and Straw ice cream from the Wizbangbar. The Wizbangbar is if you took Dairy Queen or McDonalds ice cream and made it 10 times better. I also want to comment that the only time I have seen Laker fans get hassled is at the Rose Garden when they are running their mouth during a game or after, and being really loud. If you walk around with Laker gear 99.9% of people won't say a damn thing.

[DaVoiceMaster]

It seems like once a year, someone asks this question so I'm just gonna sticky this thread and we can just keep adding to it.

[deanwoof]

obligatory STOP MOVIN HERE post

[PDXKnight]

obligatory STOP MOVIN HERE post

I'm ok with the new people, its the new traffic I'm getting utterly irritated with!

[rasta_marley]

If ya like dancing go to portlanddancing.com will tell ya all the real dancing going on not club dancing. A lot of them have a lesson going on before hand. Aztec willies is a good place for a beginning salsa dancer though the dance floor can be crowded which can be a bummer.