Urban Hiking Tour in Forest Park

Portland is not just a good walking city, but a fabulous hiking city; one of the best in the world. No other city in the U.S. has such a large forested park within the city limits, and very few other cities have such magnificent native trees within walking distance of the breweries and coffee shops of the center city.
This urban hiking tour starts near the center of the city with a climb of between 800 to 1,000 feet elevation gain. The tour ends in a different location than it begins, but both ends are within a few steps of transit.
Being in Forest Park is to be immersed in a sense of both vitality and stasis, this fluid place that exists both in and out of time. In the forest — within a minute or two of leaving a city street — you can forget, ignore, or wonder at the fact that you are still in a city. Signs of civilization drop away, only occasionally encountered (on cloudy weekdays) by runners and dog walkers and the few times the pathways cross busy city streets.
This Forest Park experience starts in front of Haven Coffe NW, a jumping-off point for the 5,000-acre forested area. You'll start the hike up toward the quixotic Witch's Castle. While the origins of the building itself are not very magical, it has gathered its magic in the decades since its dismantling in the early 1960s. From there, you head up the hill, stopping to see streams cascading into basalt-lined pools, beautiful moss and fern-covered Western red cedars, big leaf maples, and the stately towering Douglas-firs. You'll arrive at the Pittock Mansion to view the city laid out before you before descending through the neighborhoods into Washington Park, where you will end at the International Rose Test Garden.
Duration: 3 hours