What’s to Love: Despite being sandwiched-in between some nasty industrial businesses, Smith & Bybee Wetlands Natural Area is an excellent family-biking destination with several options for family fun. You may just need to hold your breath every now and then.
Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center is a beautiful nature preserve about 2 hours from Portland. The Center hosts a plethora of educational programs for families.
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What’s to Love: What’s to love? How about my first “highlight video!” Wooohooo! I can’t believe I actually got this up and running finally. You’ll see most of my new posts with a short video clip. Anyway…Commonwealth Lake Park…hmmmm…weird place, I must admit. However, I don’t mean that in a negative way. As far as parks go, let’s just say it’s somewhat unique. Basically, it’s a man-made lake surrounded by an upper-middle-class neighborhood.
What’s to Love: Tualatin Hills Nature Park (THNP) can seem like Nike’s trail running course – it’s literally in the company’s backyard. I’m usually a bit leery of a “Nature Park” in the middle of a giant suburb. However, our visit to Tualatin Hills Nature Park was perfect! The weather was fantastic, the trails were immaculate, the biking was fun and just right for a 4 year old without training wheels, and the picnic area was relaxing and quiet. I invite your comments on this wonderful park. Read more…NOTE: Just visited again on March 5 – hadn’t been there for a couple of years, and it’s still awesome!
What’s to Love: My son and I stumbled upon this little gem while touring (outer) SW parks and playgrounds. We were headed to see “Springbrook Park,” but ended up pulling into Uplands Elementary School. We were pleasantly surprised by the awesome playground structures (see pictures). Lucky for us, there were two trailheads at opposite ends of the playground that led directly into Springbrook Park.
What’s to Love: Right off the very busy highway 99W in Sherwood, OR is a very pleasant surprise. The first thing you’ll notice when pulling into the Refuge is the beautiful new interpretive center. The interpretive center houses exhibits, restrooms, a small gift shop, a spotting scope, and some very helpful and friendly volunteers. Because of traffic, getting to this place can be a real pain, but it’s definitely worth the trip.
What’s to Love: A great 2 mile loop-hike right in the heart of the Westmoreland area, and right in the heart of a beautiful Wildlife Refuge. Many hard-working people have transformed this entire wetland into a wonderful destination for hiking, biking, bird watching and exploring. For the most part, it is now very clean and safe. Historically, that has not always been the case (see Caveats).
