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What’s to Love:  We finally returned to The Stoneworks Gym in Beaverton, OR, and I’m happy to report that it’s still the same quality business that it was 3 years ago.  Super friendly, helpful, excellent instruction, unpretentious, and no attitude whatsoever from fellow climbers.  If your kids have never climbed before, Stoneworks Gym is an excellent place to learn the basics!  Matt Spohn, the gym manager and son of the owner, takes the family business seriously.  It’s obvious that his first priority is customer service, which translates into a pleasant environment.

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What’s to Love:  Since moving here to Portland in 1999, my wife and I have hiked Angel’s Rest too many times to count.  To this day, it remains one or our favorite hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, and it’s one of the first hikes when entering the Gorge from Portland. While we carried our oldest son up the hike when he was younger, this was our first visit to hike the entire 4.8 miles (round trip) with both kids.

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What’s to Love:  On our ever continuing 2011 skatepark tour, we managed to find this gem in Vancouver, WA.  Ripzu has been open about a year and a half, but it seems like a brand new facility to me. Everything is in excellent condition with a superior riding surface and one of the nicest layouts for beginning riders in the Portland area.  

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What’s to Love:  Located 12 miles SE of Sandy, Oregon on the flanks of Mt. Hood, Windells is a training camp for kids (and adults!) interested in skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, BMX, and free riding.  The sheer magnitude of the outdoor skatepark (aka “concrete jungle”) is enough to make most kids’ jaws drop to the ground in awe. I hope to write about the camp experience (academy, residential, and day) in the near future, but the focus of this article is off-season/day-use access for the general public, which is well worth the price of admission and drive from Portland.

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What’s to Love:  The Oregon Garden is full of surprises, especially during the month of October when they host “Family Harvest Days” every Saturday from 1PM to 4PM.  We went with every intention of visiting the Harvest stops, but we were quickly sidetracked by the tram tour and our own kids’ wanderlust through the well organized and meticulously maintained gardens.

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What’s to Love:  When I purchased my son his new skateboard for his 8th birthday, the owner of a local skate shop was enthusiastic about the Newberg skate park, especially for kids.  Basically, it was everything he said it was and more!  This is the nicest skate park I’ve ever seen in my life, and while the official name is the “Chehalem Skate Park,” most people refer to it as the Newberg Skate Park.

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What’s to Love:  An overcrowded beach along the Sandy River filled with people throwing cigarette butts, trash, and being obnoxiously loud and rude?  Is that the Dabney State Park you know and love?  My expectations were pretty low going in, especially on a busy summer weekend.  However, similar to Oxbow State Park, the rangers and clean-up crew do an excellent job of keeping Dabney clean, under control, and a great place for families. 

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What’s to Love: I just published “Haldeman Pond” located on Sauvie Island, where I admitted I had not caught a single fish to this day.  Still love the spot!  However, if you want to drive a bit up near Mt. Hood, you will (most likely) catch a fish at the Rainbow Trout Farm.  It’s almost impossible NOT to catch a fish.  The facility is a welcoming place for families with small children.

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What’s to Love:  We had heard good things about this hike from a close friend.  Those sentiments were corroborated by Bonnie Henderson in her book “Best Hikes with Children in Western and Central Oregon.”  After experiencing the Old Salmon River Trail, I must agree with these two sources – this is the perfect hike with children and a wonderful spot in general.

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What’s to Love: Of course, I’m a big fan of Portland, Oregon.  However, while visiting Park City, Utah on one of our “Portland Getaways,” it was hard not to constantly imagine my family living in this beautiful town – a town filled with a lifetime of outdoor adventures.  Amazing restaurants, summer concerts, three premier ski resorts (Park City Mountain Resort, Canyons Resort, and Deer Valley), Utah Olympic Park, summer adventure parks, endless lift-served mountain biking, and jaw-dropping-views await your family.  I’ve cataloged all of this and more for your next family vacation.

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What’s to Love:  The Mosier Tunnels are locate just outside Mosier, Oregon and are a couple of exits east of Hood River, Oregon.  Located high up on bluff, they are part of what used to be the old Columbia Gorge highway.  This roadway is now closed to cars for an impressive 4.7 miles, which will bring you all the way back to Hood River.  This is a perfect destination for a family bike ride, especially when combined with so many other destinations nearby. 

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What’s to Love:  ”Functional Fitness” is a trendy term these days.  What does it mean?  I’m sure I could gather many definitions from practicioners, teachers, and students.  To me, it means exercising in dynamic/non-linear ways like rolling, tumbling, climbing, twisting, turning, jumping, leaping, grasping, etc.  Most importantly, the movements have to be done with a mindful intent on the technique.  Oh yeah, it MUST be fun!  It’s the type of fitness that makes you feel like a kid again.  Revolution Parkour houses one of the first Parkour Academies in the country and after experiencing a course first-hand with my 7-year old son, I can certainly attest to the “having fun” aspect.

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What’s to Love:  Open just a couple of weeks now (Grand Opening on Tuesday, March 29th, 3PM to 9PM), we spent nearly 3-hours at John’s Incredible Pizza playing games, enjoying the rides, and eating.  This place is HUGE (46,000 square feet) with over 110 games, but it’s the little things that actually make John’s worth a visit.

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What’s to Love:  Free admission!  And, your kids will freak out when they see a 6-foot White Sturgeon at the fish hatchery.  I wouldn’t rate this high as a family destination on its own, but it’s in the perfect location for a side trip while out and about in the Gorge.  Definitely a good bet when mixed with “Wahclella Falls.”

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What’s to Love: Over the course of three+ years, I haven’t used a single expletive in an article.  If there ever was a time to use one to describe the sheer awesomeness of a place, it would be reserved for Sky High Sports.  Because this is a family site, I’ll leave it out, but WOW!  This place is absolutely amazing!!!  Sky High Sports has several areas (e.g., kids’, foam pit, dodge ball, private, main, etc.) of interconnected trampolines (even up the walls!) that will put a big smile on your face and push your heart rate to 175+ in a matter of seconds!

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What’s to Love:  File this under “MUST VISIT NOW!”  This place is AMAZING!  Even a week after the visit, our kids were still talking about it, and I’m trying to fully grasp and articulate our experience.  I cannot believe we hadn’t visited these incredible museums.  Out in what seems like the middle of nowhere, Portlanders have access to aviation and spaces museums that rival anything you’d see at Cape Canaveral or Washington D.C., or anywhere else for that matter.  These museums are squeaky clean, full of helpful volunteers, and will literally make you just stare around in awe.

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What’s to Love:  Are you making your plans for the winter holiday season?  Portland Family Adventures highly recommends Black Butte Ranch during the Christmas holiday season.  Black Butte Ranch comes alive during the festive holiday season. Close your eyes and imagine their properties and roads lightly dusted with some fluffy dry snow perfect for tooling around the resort on cross-country skis and quite possibly, sledding on some of the golf course hills.  Even in winter, Black Butte Ranch delivers the best in family fun.  Please check-out this reprinted article from our experience last year.

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What’s to Love:  This site highlights all kinds of adventures.  Granted, sometimes the “adventures” are more like cushy vacations or a walks in nearby parks.  However, I want the site to feature a little something for every family.  Every once in awhile, we kick it up a notch (e.g., Rock Climbing at Smith Rock, Free Riding near Hood River, Hiking Cooper Spur, etc.).  The Tree to Tree Aerial Adventure Park (Gaston, Oregon) brings the level of adventure up SEVERAL notches, especially if you venture off 60 feet in the air to try their black course.

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What’s to Love:  Sunriver feels like a community built around 30+ miles of paved walking/biking paths.  When you’re there, it feels like everything (i.e., the pools, the tennis courts, the homes, condos, etc.) was an afterthought to this incredible network of trails. Most of the time, these paved trails are completely separated from the roads, which adds an element of safety.

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What’s to Love:  After leaving Sunriver Resort, we decided to stop at the Lava Lands Visitor Center and check-out the awesome cinder cone – Lava Butte.  Driving down 97, you cannot miss this 500 foot high volcano, which erupted 7000 years ago and covered 9 square miles with lava.  If you want to get your kids’ attention, just say, “We’re going to drive-up a real volcano!”