Topic: Portland OR tourist info

[Stev-o]

We've Neenah been to OR and am thinking of a summer trip there this Aug.
If you live near there or have visited, could you please post some info that may interest us?
Most likely, we would fly into Portland, spend a day or two there (if worthy?), then head to the Columbia River Gorge area, Mt Hood, and the wine country.
We're interested in action adventure (kite boarding, mt climbing, rafting, snow boarding - snow? And visiting wineries and beautiful parks).
Also curious what we can expect the weather to be in the areas listed above.

Thanks in advance.

[Frankenkit]

I'm more a 'country' person than a 'city' person so my touristy suggestions are biased that way, but I really love the Portland Japanese Gardens and the rose garden across the street from there.  Go on a weekday because it'll be a bit quieter.  Very pretty, very calming.  The roses in the rose garden should be great too.  If you want to see something kinda neat and don't mind a bit of a drive, the Evergreen air museum in McMinnville houses the Spruce Goose.  Heck of a thing to see... Freakin' huge.    Their other exhibits are pretty neat too.  There's a scenic route off of I-84 around Hood River that lets you see a bunch of waterfalls... can't recall off the top of my head what that road is called but other folks here will know.  That's very pretty as well.  Can't recommend the Gorge highly enough, it's just beautiful geographically.  There's a (steam?) boat tour that goes 'round the Gorge and that's kind of neat. Very touristy but neat.  If you're renting kayaks etc, check out the Kayak Shed. 

We've got a ton of vinyards, and if you wanted a complete 'west oregon' day with the air museum, then do that in the morning and see/sample the wines sold at the air museum, then head up hwy 47 and see the momokawa sakery (gotta sample sake for the sake of the Japanese bikes...) and west out hwy 8 there are a couple more vinyards.  Shafer vineyard/winery I recommend highly, their icewines are incredible.  After that you can follow hwy 8  (or 47, then 26) east again to get back to Portland so it's more of a big wide circuit around McMinnville, Gaston, and Forest Grove, doable in one (albeit longish) day.

The weather can be sort of unstable.  It's almost always windy in the Gorge though, as far as I've noticed.  Usually doesn't rain much in August though. 

[pdxPope]

Weather should be pretty good. August is generally one of our hottest months (upper 80's-mid 90's) without much humidity.

Probably won't be snow on the mountains so snowboarding is out, but some of the most beautiful hiking or mountain biking you've ever seen.

The Gorge is world famous for it's windsurfing; plan a day trip to Hood River (1 hr from downtown PDX) windsurf all day and dinner @ the Full Sail brewpub. Stop on the way to check out Multnomah Falls.

Oregon wine country (Dundee) is also only about an hour from downtown. 8 or ten good wineries in a 1 mile strip (Argyle is a personal fave.) Spend the day doing tasting tours, or head down highway 99 a little further and check out the Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

You could easily spend 3 or 4 days in Portland itself checking out the sights. Several fountains and parks; the Pearl District for art; Powell's bookstore can be a day itself; OMSI, Saturday Market; Underground Portland tour, etc... There is probably a pub crawl every night (we take our beer very seriously). Portland is an easy city to walk. It's well laid out (grid fashion), it's not very big and has some excellent public transportation.

Time permitting head to the coast (2 hr drive) and do some whale watching or deep sea fishing, or take a jet boat ride down the Columbia river to Astoria.

Depending on when things come together, you might find yourself on the PNW leg of the SOHC rally!


-JP

(Ahh, Kit, you beat me to it!  )

[xfactor]

This is awesome, I am heading out there end of June until mid July so this is super helpful for me.

Thanks!

[roy1]

Lots to see in OR, just stay clear of the big city of Portland and you'll do fine.

[Duanob]

I think one of the most scenic and undiscovered roads in the USA is HWY26 from Prineville to Baker City (HWY 7) I've drove it 3 times now and am always amazed at the awesome and constantly changing scenery. John Day, Painted Hill, Strawberry Mountains are all a must see.