Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (SE Portland) Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, located in the Eastmoreland neighborhood of SE Portland, is one of the many ways Portlanders can find paradise in the heart of the city. Nestled in the southeast, a stone’s throw from Reed College, this 9.5-acre haven for multiple varieties of waterfowl attracts families with kids of all ages. Bring your camera to capture your children’s wide eyes when the geese step right up, hoping you’ll ignore the garden’s request that you not feed them. There are signs to help you identify the fowl swimming on Crystal Springs Lake. According to one of the brochures Keep Reading

Hoyt Arboretum (Portland) When most people think of Northwest Portland family outings they picture the Portland Zoo, the Portland Children’s Museum or maybe the World Forestry Center. Some people may not even know that the perfect and free family outing is only steps away! We recently visited the Hoyt Arboretum for the first time and had a fabulous morning. If you are not familiar with this area, the Arboretum is located about two miles west of Downtown Portland. Our first stop was to get a map from the visitors’ center. The little ones absolutely loved having a map. They would frequently pause to look at it, trace their finger along Keep Reading

Springwater Corridor: Sellwood to OMSI (SE Portland) My kids don’t seem to grasp the notion that they are only allowed to get cabin fever in the summer, when there’s no end of opportunities to work out the wiggles on playgrounds, in parks and at the pool. Fortunately, they love to ride bikes, but our neighborhood street isn’t the sort of place I really want them to go for a spin, so I’m glad we’ve discovered a protected bike path that makes an easy half-day adventure for our little family on any decent day, even in mid-winter. The Springwater Corridor is part of a massive loop of bike paths circumnavigating the eastern half of the Portland Keep Reading