Community Excursions
If you want to take a break from the festival and explore the city, there are many opportunities to join the Portland locals for fun excursions around the greater Portland area. Try some of Portland's most delicious cuisine, hike to the beautiful vistas of Columbia River Gorge, relax at the peaceful Chinese Garden, wind or unwind with a coffee crawl or drinks at the pub—you'll feel like a true Portlander before too long!
Stay on the lookout for this year's excursions, to be posted later in the year. Meanwhile, wet your palate with a look at some of last year's outings:
- Angel's Rest Hike, Columbia River Gorge
- Starting in a fern-filled forest, the trail climbs uphill for 0.6 miles before reaching the top of Coopey Falls, a 150 to 175 foot horsetail waterfall, and a footbridge crossing the creek. Continuing on, the trail begins to switchback uphill for 1.6 miles before reaching the ridge crest. Turn left at a junction to a spectacular gorge viewpoint. Use extreme caution at the steep cliff edge. Some nice flower features of this hike are the wildflower displays of blue-eyed grass, star-flowered Smiliacina, and trillium at lower levels. At the top, a breathtaking panorama of the entire Gorge awaits you, complete with a bench to rest your weary feet.
- Edgefield Manor
- Portland's McMenamin Brothers have created an amazing empire of unique brew pubs in Oregon. This is one of our favorites. We stop here on the way back from our hike to listen to a concert, grab a beer, some food, lounge around, or tour the property.
- Hawthorne Food Carts
- Come grab a bite at the dancers' favorite late night food place. Food Carts have taken over Portland, and this spot is certainly one of the coolest. Come hipster-watch while indulging crepes, milkshakes, poutine, pizza, burritos, southern BBQ, fried pies, etc...there is something here to flatter any tastebuds!
- Chinese Garden
- Lan Su Chinese Garden is a beautiful place to start your day with a walk around a traditional Chinese court yard, a cup of tea from Tao of Tea, and a fortune stick.
- PSU Farmers' Market
- Grab a meal from the market's food carts: some of the best pizza in the world (they have veggie too), biscuits and chicken, cookies and pastries, burritos, etc... or just pick up some fresh groceries for the weekend.
- Pearl District Pub Crawl
- Last year we crawled through BridgePort, Rogue, Deschutes, Henry's, and finally the Crystal Ballroom.
- Forest Park Hike
- Forest Park is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves and is the 19th largest US park contained within a city. It is home to more than 112 bird species and 62 mammals as well as a wide variety of trees and shade-loving plants. Its longest trail, Wildwood Trail, sprawls across the upper hills and is almost 30 miles long, starting in Washington Park (where the zoo is), and ending in the far reaches of the NW industrial district.
We hike a popular loop starting in the Lower Macleay Park, up the Lower Macleay Trail to the old stone house, over Wildwood Trail into the depths of the forest, back on Leif Erikson Drive, and finish with a short skirt along Aspen Avenue with its period architecture and views of the city. This is a relatively easy hike, but we'll be close to many creeks so be sure to wear shoes you don't mind getting muddy! - Independence Day BBQ
- Potluck BBQ, bring a side dish, veggies, meat, drinks, chips, etc. We ran out of food last year, so think about the quantity of food you consume for lunch and contribute a comparable amount. We can cook your veggies or meat on the grill.
And More...
If you'd like to make plans to explore on your own, check out www.travelportland.com.