Activities for Kids

The Perfect Portland Summer Bucket List

Be sure to plan a trip to the berry patch, take a breathtaking tram ride or hike to the top of the city as part of your Portland summer fun.

By Marianne Walters June 28, 2015

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cscottmills/5147357821/in/photolist-6UBgom-8QRy9D-57KWHZ-cAfGaE-gKbKzF-oZaFQX

Who needs to jet set to a tropical island when Portland has plenty of excitement, like tram rides with a bird’s-eye view, berry patches and sandy beach trips within a stone’s throw of home? Read on to discover eight close-to-home adventures that’ll make your summer unforgettable.

8. Pick the Berry Best

They don’t call them nature’s candy for nothing. Portland is blessed with a bounty of juicy, sun-kissed berries and they’re yours for the picking. Two of our fave U-Pick “picks” are on Sauvie Island. Kruger’s Farm Market (17100 N. W. Sauvie Island Rd.) is a working 100-acre farm and store where you can stroll the fields and picnic under a huge oak tree. Try to go on a Thursday when you can stay for one of the Farm Tunes summer concerts that happen every Thursday night through August. While you’re there, be sure to visit Matilda, the resident pig.

Columbia Farms (21024 NW Gillihan Rd.) is another island favorite. It started with just one acre of strawberries and now features 80 acres with eight different types of berries. We especially love this place because one of the varieties is thornless blackberries… right up there with seedless watermelon as one of the best inventions ever.

And, if live down in the southern ‘burbs, it’s totally worth the trek to Boones Ferry Berry Farm (19602 Boones Ferry Rd. NE, Hubbard), where you’ll find a wide variety of berry special varieties, including marionberries and loganberries, along with blackberries, raspberries and more.

photo: Scott Mills via Creative Commons

What’s on your summer bucket list? Let us know in the Comments below!

— Marianne Walters