Nice nature walk. Safe and clean. I start at Cherry St and walk dogs to Rock Creek and back. Lots…read moreof different sights and smells.

I was looking for a close by place to take a walk where I hadn't been before and came across this…read moretrail. I'd been to Orenco Woods Park a couple of time and looking at the map, I found a parking area that didn't require me to cross any streets. I'd say this is a hidden gem. While you do walk under the power lines in places, it's a fairly flat trail that's paved and very well maintained. Walking along the creek, you could almost forget you're surrounded by businesses and houses in places. It appears to be a few connected parks along this trail. The orchards park loop seems to be a year round trail to me. Some sections farther north may be hot in the summertime, but I didn't make it up there to check. Overall, a great place to bike, walk and to take the dog. There is a section where there is a frisbee golf course. Nice Job Hillsboro.

Went on a Glamping Trip to L.L. Stub Stewart State Park (Buxton, OR). I've been trying to visit…read moremore State and National Parks, as they are generally quite nice, affordable, and of course out in nature. Sarah marinated some delicious meats and I grilled some skewers. We also made some s'mores. L.L. Stubbs is one of the cleanest and nicest state parks I've ever been to. Gorgeous views from the cabin, plenty of hiking, and a day use area that has a dog park and picnic tables if you're not camping here. It's also quite affordable. Highly recommend. Thankful for these moments.

This a fantastic campground, we go camping here very often between travels to other places that are…read morefurther away or when we just want to get away, it is super close, sites are large to have room for not just the RV but also enough for my brother in-law to stay with his tent. We have found our favorite spots (I will not disclose as OR state parks reservations are very competitive so I need to keep them secret). The sites are clean the public restrooms and showers are in great shape (as with most OR state Parks). The full hookups are well placed for trailers too. The camps hosts as always are always great in the OR state parks. It is very forested in the west loop; the east loop is more open but also very nice. Tent campers have plenty of places in both locations too. There is also a loop of cabins that are really nice (have a reservation soon to check them out). They have a horse only camp up higher which is very cool if you have horses you want to bring so you can hit the trails with your ponies. There is lots of bike trials for mountain bikers and hikers and the wonderful Banks Vernonia paved trail which is always a great ride. I believe there is also a Disc golf area too which seems to be common with OR state parks to have. The cellular service for Verizon and AT&T is strong enough to allow us to work and stream movies while here. This makes it a great place to remote work if you can. Almost every trip we see deer roaming around the sites which is just amazing. They are calm and use to humans, but please do not feed them let them live and roam in peace . You can stay here year-round, they can get snow so be prepared. If you want, you can take a quick trip to Vernonia or Banks for a meal or if you crave a coffee drink or maybe groceries.

Beautiful spot along the Wilson River Highway...minus the trash…read more We've meant to stop by and check out the footbridge so many times, but finally got there this weekend. The trailhead has a lot to offer: trail connector to Wilson River Trail and to the Tillamook Forest Center...a beautiful swimming hole...short trek to Wilson Falls and Bridge Creek Falls. BUT, the amount of trash we encountered as we wandered around the area was both disturbing and sad. While trying to admire the beautiful river we noticed abandoned blow-up toys..plastic cups, straws, and gallon jugs..wet towels and clothing..piles of pup poop. There were items all around the beach area, along the trails each direction, throughout the parking lot, even up on the cliffs where people jump in. It really put a dark cloud over what really should be a stunning place for various outdoor activities. Such a shame. The Footbridge Day Use area really has soooo much beauty and fun to offer. If only visitors would be responsible and respect nature!!

This hike was hard, but not impossible. Bring hiking poles. It took about 4 days for my legs to…read morerecover, and I am an avid skater with pretty strong legs to start. Cardio wise I was fine, my friend and I marched right up to the top, but it was very steep at places. For me, going down was much harder and I was slipping a lot on loose gravel. The warning at the trailhead about "sheer drop offs" was a bit scary since I am not a huge fan of heights, but the trail itself is not along any ledges and I felt perfectly safe. Views at the top were great. Bring poles, hike during good weather, and you will be rewarded with a great leg workout and a view at the top.

Unrelenting beauty, even on this wet, misty superbowl Sunday. I set out to hike the King Mountain…read more- Elk Mountain loop, a difficult 11 miles. All the advice about this being a hard hike are absolutely correct. Take it seriously and wear sturdy boots, bring water and snacks. Layer carefully. The trailhead has a good size parking area with overflow across the highway. There is a potty, yay! I headed off counter clockwise, I intended to take Elk first. All the advice says you dont want to have to descend Elk at the end of this crusher. The trail paralleled the highway for a while then at about 3.6 miles I took a hard left and headed up. The gain is 1700 feet in a mile. The "trail" is often a narrow, nearly vertical rock face, and needs careful foot placement. The views are gorgeous. It's a gasping, burning scramble to the top. It was cold and raining (that light omnipresent rain forest rain, not a downpour) until I got to the top, then it was snowing! I'm okay for that, I live in merino base layers, but I was not ready for the other side of that mountain. The snown hid the trail, and if I had thought the east side was a scramble, the west side would have made a mountain goat pause. It was like trying to walk along the backbone of the mountains. The very first part of that side was me on my butt, trying descend a rock face. I got about 500 hard earned yards and decided this wasn't how I wanted to die. I went back to the summit and returned the way I came. Oh, but it's downhill! Easy peasy - not! What was left of my knee cartilage was put to the test and my toes got real sore from jamming up against the front of my boot. Sure, I made better time, but it was very hard going. When I got back to the lower trail and only had that 3.6 miles to go, it was a huge relief. My 11 mile loop ended up a 10.2 mile out and back. If you're looking for advice, I'd say save this one for better weather.

Very simple, pretty and relaxing. Close by to a lot of other…read morevenues for food, coffee or drinks. The path is flat and paved. No swimming but you can boat/kayak, fishing is allowed and dogs are permitted too! The old paper mill is right there as you walk the path, very pretty, lots of graffiti, cool to see how nature has taken over. Only downside, you do have to pay to park.

My significant other and I are always looking for new places to fish. We decided to try out…read moreVernonia Lake, and took our dog, as it is pet-friendly. We were pleased with the lake- it is a beautiful little place, though we did not have much luck fishing today like others had yesterday. I like that the lake area has a snack bar and they offer hot chocolate (even with mini marshmallows and chocolate drizzle!), which warmed me up since it was a bit chilly out. There are clean restrooms, a paved walking path, and the parking lot, restrooms, and snack bar are all at the lakes edge. There is a river that runs adjacent to the side of the lake we were on, which was beautiful too. We would come here again.

This is really nice straight forward launch area for kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding and other…read moresmall boats. They have good parking, nice restrooms, picnic tables and very much nestled in with nature. The launch point is a bit challenging with not much room down by the water, with the river flow and depth constantly changing I am sure it can be a bit of a challenge for construction. Maybe they can figure out how to secure a good floating dock at some point. The water and natural landscape along the Tualatin River is some of the best. Go north to Rood Bridge park, but around there is a stop because of a damn. So South and you can go miles towards Tigard then Tualatin. Always lots of friendly folks on the water. Best part no motor boats. If you are looking for a great place to paddle, this is a good place to put in. When done and hungry you can swing around the he corner for great burgers at Cruisin' Diner. It would be a five star if the launch point was better.

I have used this spot to put in my paddleboard about 3x's now. It is conveniently located near my…read morehouse but there are so many snags in the river that it does make it challenging to navigate (which can be kinda fun) and also the water pumps that pump irrigation water for the surrounding fields can be loud. I wonder if the water level gets too low to use this spot later in the summer.

Fun place an hour from Portland, bring water shoes! Rocks to jump from! Swim shallow and slightly…read moredeeper parts fun place to cool off! There is a bathroom near by and free parking you park and go down the trail to the river!

Love the campground and the host Christy is awesome. I've been camping there twice in the last…read moremonth because it's so nice.

The campground was full for the memorial day weekend.Close to the River and only 35 minutes from…read moreTillamook. There was only 1 camp host, but he took care of business . Clean camping area and the Bathroom was clean and supplied with plenty toilet paper .. We will return ..