72 Best Sights in Portland, Oregon

During the 1920s these parks were segregated by gender—a leafy reminder of how much society has progressed in the past century: Chapman, between Madison and Main Streets, was reserved for women, and Lownsdale, between Main and Salmon Streets, was for men. The elk statue on Main Street, which separates the parks, was given to the city by David Thompson, mayor from 1879 to 1882. It recalls the elk that grazed in the area in the 1850s.

The highest point in Portland, at 1,073 feet, this 43-acre bluff-top patch of greenery is a superb spot to take in sunsets and sunrises. Along with nearly 180-degree views of the Portland metro area, a clear day also affords views of the surrounding peaks—Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Rainier. Trails connect Council Crest with Marquam Nature Park and Washington Park.

For much of the year, this nearly 10-acre retreat near Reed College is frequented mainly by bird-watchers and those who want a restful stroll. But starting in April, thousands of rhododendron bushes and azaleas burst into flower, attracting visitors in larger numbers. The peak blooming season for these woody shrubs is May; by late June the show is over.

Low on greenery but high on gathering space, this 2009 addition to the city's downtown park blocks was designed as a public piazza—it hides a 700-space parking garage below. A glass canopy–light display provides cover, and a fountain dedicated to teachers cools off summer visitors. Chess players enjoy the giant (it's 16 feet square) board with 25-inch-high pieces, available on a first-come, first-served basis. There's a branch of Elephants Delicatessen—great for salads, deli sandwiches, chocolates, and wine by the glass and bottle—with both indoor and outdoor seating adjacent to the piazza.

A roughly T-shaped dining and retail district that's less defined but no less popular and impressive than some of the East Side's other culinary and shopping hot spots (like the Alberta Arts District and Southeast Division Street), this diverse neighborhood comprises a slew of mostly food-related ventures along East Burnside Street from about 22nd to 28th Avenues. Then, where Burnside meets 28th Avenue, you'll find several blocks of first-rate eateries as well as a handful of boutiques in either direction, heading north up to about Glisan Street and south down to about Stark Street. The historic Laurelhurst Theater anchors the intersection of 28th and Burnside.

Officially named, but rarely referred to as, the Natural Capital Center, this striking building has a handful of organic and environment-friendly businesses and other retail outlets, including Hot Lips Pizza, Laughing Planet Café, and a wonderful little Latinx-owned coffeehouse, Perlita. Built in 1895 and purchased by Ecotrust in 1998, the former warehouse has been adapted to serve as a landmark in "green" building practices. Guided tours are available by appointment and showcase the original "remnant wall" on the west side of the parking lot as well as the "eco-roof," a grassy rooftop, with its great view of the Pearl District.

Owned by the Catholic Church, the National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, as it's officially known, displays more than 100 statues and shrines in 62 acres of woods that adjoin Rocky Butte Natural Area. The grotto was carved into the base of a 110-foot cliff, and has a replica of Michelangelo's Pietà. The real treat is found after ascending the cliff face via elevator, as you enter a wonderland of gardens, sculptures, and shrines, and a glass-walled cathedral with an awe-inspiring view of the Columbia River and the Cascades. There's a dazzling Christmas Festival of Lights (late November and December, $14), with 500,000 lights and more than 160 holiday concerts in the 500-seat chapel, and an indoor petting zoo. Daily masses are held here, too.

Some 12 miles of trails that connect with others in Washington Park and Forest Park wind through the 189-acre arboretum, which was established in 1928 and contains more than 2,000 species of plants and one of the nation's largest collections of coniferous trees. Pick up trail maps at the visitor center. Guided 90-minute tours ($5 suggested donation) are offered at various times. Also here are the Winter Garden and a memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War.

This gently terraced park surrounded by tony lofts, shops, and restaurants contains a soothing fountain that mimics nature. Rising water gushes over a stack of basalt blocks, gradually fills the open plaza, and then subsides. Colorful 30-foot tiki totems by pop artist Kenny Scharf stand along the park's west edge. There are tables and chairs in the park, and wading in the fountain is encouraged. The streetcar stops right at the park.

In this particularly striking section of Tom McCall Waterfront Park that's dotted with cherry trees that bloom brilliantly in early spring, take a moment to study the evocative figures cast into the bronze columns at the plaza's entrance. They show Japanese and Japanese-Americans before, during, and after World War II—living daily life, fighting in battle for the United States, and marching off to internment camps. Simple blocks of granite carved with haiku poems describing the war experience powerfully evoke this dark episode in American history.

Consider visiting the plaza in conjunction with the nearby—and related—Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center museum.

A widely lauded example of public landscape architecture, this series of 18-foot-high stone waterfalls gushes across from the front entrance of the Keller Auditorium—a cool spot to dip your toes on a summer day. Each minute, 13,000 gallons of water fall and churn through the fountain's cascading platforms.

Unusually, you need to knock to gain admission to this toy museum (it's open regularly only on Thursdays and Fridays, but you can visit other times by appointment). Once inside, there are oodles of antique toys—from cars and trains to dolls and teddy bears—and banks. It's a quiet place, obviously the beloved compilation of a dedicated collector, namely Frank Kidd. There are some more recent die-cast items, but the toys range mostly from 1869 to 1939; be aware that these older toys can be shockingly racist as was customary during that time period and would never be produced today. Keep in mind that younger kids may not find the museum atmosphere especially kid-friendly; it's better suited to older kids and vintage-toy enthusiasts.

Manicured lawns, stately trees, and a wildfowl pond make this 31-acre southeast Portland park a favorite urban hangout since 1912. Laurelhurst, one of the city's most beautiful neighborhoods, surrounds the park. It was the first city park to be named on the National Register of Historic Places.

Completed in 1914 by Emanuel Mische, who trained with the iconic Olmsted Brothers landscaping design firm, resplendent Laurelhurst Park's hundred-year-old trees and winding, elegant paths are evocative of another time, and may trigger an urge to don a parasol. Laurelhurst offers plentiful trails, playgrounds, tennis courts, soccer fields, horseshoe pits, an off-leash area for dogs, and many sunny and shady picnic areas. Take a stroll around the large spring-fed pond and keep an eye out for blue heron, the city's official bird. On the south side of this 31-acre park is one of the busiest basketball courts in town. Though the park is always beautiful, it is especially so in fall.

One of the top spirits makers in Southeast Portland's Distillery Row, New Deal has become nationally regarded for its eponymous vodka, which also comes in several flavored varieties, including Hot Monkey Pepper and Mud Puddle Bitter Chocolate. Visitors to the tasting room can sample limited releases and seasonal products as well as other New Deal standards, like aromatic gin and coffee liqueur made with beans from nearby Water Avenue Coffee.

There's a small-town charm to this park that has bumper cars, thrill rides, miniature golf, and roller-skating. A 360-degree-loop roller coaster and other high-velocity, gravity-defying contraptions border the midway, along with a carousel and Ferris wheel. The wooden skating rink, built in 1905, is the oldest continuously operating one in the United States, and it features a working Wurlitzer organ. To help protect it from Willamette River flooding, the rink floats on airtight iron barrels. There are outdoor concerts in summer.

Bring your binoculars, because birds are plentiful at this 163-acre refuge situated in a flood-plain wetland near Sellwood. More than 175 species reside here seasonally, including hawks, quail, pintails, mallards, coots, woodpeckers, kestrels, widgeons, hummingbirds, and the sedately beautiful blue heron. The hiking is easy and relatively flat, but wear sturdy shoes, as it can get muddy; part of the park is on top of a landfill layered with soil. Southeast Portland's Springwater biking and pedestrian trail connects Oaks Bottom with Downtown.

This building erected in 1882 is a prime example of Carpenter Gothic architecture. Tall spires and original stained-glass windows enhance its exterior of rough-cut lumber. The acoustically resonant church hosts free classical concerts at noon each Wednesday. If you're lucky, you'll get to hear one of the few operating Hook & Hastings tracker pipe organs. Check the Old Church calendar for other special events such as the blues and jazz series. Tickets are reasonably priced, especially for the caliber of performance.

Impressive eight-story-high trompe l'oeil murals of Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail invite history lovers into this Downtown museum, which goes beyond the dominant narratives of white colonists and explorers to tell the story of the state through myriad perspectives, from prehistoric times through the racist era of “black-exclusion” laws to the challenges of the present day. The state-of-the-art permanent exhibit Experience Oregon, comprises 7,000 square feet of interactive galleries displaying a pair of 9,000-year-old sagebrush sandals, an actual covered wagon, and hands-on games.

This memorial to those who perished during the Holocaust bears the names of surviving families who live in Oregon and southwest Washington. A bronzed baby shoe, a doll, broken spectacles, and other strewn possessions await notice on the cobbled courtyard. Soil and ash from six Nazi concentration camps is interred beneath the black granite wall. The memorial is operated by the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in Old Town.

Local model makers created most of this museum's models of ships that once plied the Columbia River. Contained within the stern-wheeler steamship Portland, this small museum provides an excellent overview of Oregon's maritime history with artifacts and memorabilia. The Children's Corner has nautical items that can be touched and operated. The Portland is the last steam-powered stern-wheel tugboat operating in the United States, and volunteer-guided tours include the pilot house and engine room.  Occasional four-hour cruises on the ship are also offered, about once a month, in summer; the cost is $88.

Train-history buffs aren't the only ones who'll appreciate the three steam-driven locomotives on display here. The center, which runs mostly on donations, also plays host to diesel locomotives, historic passenger cars, and other nuggets of train days gone by. The ORHC offers hugely popular, family-oriented "Holiday Express" excursions on weekends between Thanksgiving and mid-December, departing from the station at Oaks Amusement Park.

This animal park in the West Hills, famous for its Asian elephants, is undergoing a two-decades-long series of major improvements and expansions. New in recent years are the Polar Passage, Black Rhino, Primate Forest, Condors of the Columbia, and Elephant Lands habitats. There's also a state-of-the-art Zoo Education Center. Other major draws include the Africa Savanna with hippos, zebras, and giraffes; Steller Cove, an aquatic exhibit home to Steller sea lions and a family of sea otters; and a troop of chimpanzees. On select Friday nights in summer, the zoo stays open late and offers live music, food carts, beer and wine, zookeeper talks, and family-oriented entertainment. Take the MAX light rail to the Washington Park station.

The "City of Roses" moniker started here, at this park that harks back to another time. The city's oldest (1913) public rose garden (and the only sunken one) houses about 5,000 plantings of roses. The daunting task of deadheading all these flowers is covered in classes taught to volunteers. The bandstand is a historic landmark, and the last of its kind in the city. This 16-acre North Portland park also contains an ornate historic fountain, Italian villa–inspired community center, playground, wading pool, tennis and volleyball courts, and picnic tables.

Often billed as the living room, public heart, and commercial soul of Downtown, Pioneer Square is not entirely square, but rather an amphitheater-like brick piazza featuring five food carts. Special seasonal, charitable, and festival-oriented events often take place in this premier people-watching venue. Directly across the street is one of Downtown Portland's most familiar landmarks, the classically sedate Pioneer Courthouse; built in 1869, it's the oldest public building in the Pacific Northwest. A couple of blocks east of the square, you'll find Pioneer Place Mall, an upscale retail center that spans four city blocks.

The 150-acre sanctuary has a few miles of trails, including one known for ample woodpecker sightings, as well as access to the miles of trails in the adjoining Forest Park. There's also a hospital for injured and orphaned birds here, as well as a gift shop stocked with books and feeders. The society supplies free maps and sponsors a flock of bird-related activities, including guided bird-watching events and the annual Wild Arts Festival in mid-December.

Portlandia, the second-largest hammered-copper statue in the world, surpassed only by the Statue of Liberty, kneels on the second-story balcony of one of the earliest postmodern buildings in the United States. Built in 1982, and architect Michael Graves's first major design commission, this 15-story office building is buff color, with brown-and-blue trim and exterior decorative touches. Locals tend to either love or hate it, and its current need for a nearly $100 million renovation has plenty of critics calling—probably in vain—for its demolition. A huge fiberglass mold of Portlandia's face is exhibited in the second-floor Public Art Gallery, which provides a good overview of Portland's 1% for Art Program, and the hundreds of works on display throughout the city.