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Photo: EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Washington Park is a classic urban park, sprawling over about 140 acres, with many trails that take you between the stands of trees, around the hills and through the canyons - a park so large it can be easy to get lost without a map. In addition to the many attractions listed below, it also contains memorials for the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Holocaust, and the Lewis and Clark expedition, and has beautiful vistas of Portland and Mount Hood. The MAX red and blue lines can take you to the park; the station is located at the south end of the park, outside the World Forestry Center and the Oregon Zoo entrance.
Washington Park, founded in 1871, is a public urban park in Portland, Oregon, United States. It includes the Oregon Zoo, the World Forestry Center, the Hoyt Arboretum, the International Rose Test Garden, and the Portland Japanese Garden. There are several prominent memorials and public sculptures in Washington Park including the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial, the Lewis and Clark Memorial Column, and a statue of Sacajawea and her son Jean-Baptiste. The Park also includes an amphitheatre, archery range, tennis courts, soccer field, picnic areas, playgrounds, and acres of wild forest with many miles of trails. There is a single underground drinking water reservoir with two aboveground reflecting pools completed in 2026 that replaced two separate drinking water reservoirs built in the 1890s.
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Built like a giant log cabin, this museum is devoted to the science and cultural impact of Pacific Northwest forests.
A large arboretum with paved trails of varying length and over 1,000 species of trees and plants in a natural setting.
A good-sized zoo with Pacific Northwest animals, a primate house, and an Africa area, as well as a large Asian Elephant exhibit and breeding area, which is noteworthy among zoos.
A haven of tranquil beauty across the seasons, Portland Japanese Garden has been proclaimed as one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan.
The largest rose test garden in U.S., perched on a hill overlooking Downtown Portland, with thousands of roses planted in every possible way: rows, bushes and vines. Best to come between May and July, when it gets fragrant as everything's in bloom. Volunteer gardeners offer free guided tours at 1PM during the summer months.
Portland's Major League Soccer team, the Timbers, play at Providence Park (formerly PGE Park and JELD-WEN Field) and are known for their strong local support. Games against the Seattle Sounders are especially heated, though fan conflict is almost always verbal. Getting tickets can be tricky, as the stadium is rather small—even after an expansion project completed during the 2019 MLS season, it still holds only a bit more than 25,000.