Portland Still Has Urban Wilderness

Portland is close to so many beautiful natural areas. But there are still wild spots in the city too. We asked Norther Emily, Wild Solitude Guiding's outdoor expert, for the outdoor places in town that make Portland feel like home.

“Before I was into the outdoors, I was really into urban exploration stuff,” she said.

Laurelhurst Park

“I love the shit out of Laurelhurst Park. The woodsy side of Laurelhurst is really nice and I trail-run there every morning, and I get this little slice of getting to pretend that I'm in the real woods.”

Swan Island Boat Launch

“I really love paddling around Swan Island,” says Emily. “There is a kind of obscure place on Swan Island where you can launch a canoe. Even though I don't own a canoe anymore, I go down there because sometimes you'll see some herons. It's a very intense blend of industrial and rewilded landscapes.”

McCormick and Baxter

This one’s a place you can’t visit, at least anymore: a superfund site in North Portland.

“One of my favorite wild urban landscapes in the 90s and early 2000s — I used to go there like every weekend,” says Emily. “They sealed the contaminated part of the river underneath these very visually interesting geometric cement blocks. And at the end of summer, the river has receded quite a lot and you can see this geometric block pattern.”

There were trees and abandoned buildings to explore back in the day, says Emily.

Disclaimer: “Don't actually do this.”

The Columbia Slough

Another spot for urban exploration — one that you can actually visit — is the Columbia Slough.

“It's so underrated. Again, if you have a canoe, this is cool, but even if you don't,” says Emily. “There's tons of herons out there all the time, nutria, and beavers.

Tip: “You just have to have a good map to figure out the best legal access points. Some of them are dedicated parks. And then sometimes you walk through this business park to like the backside and then there's like a little green area that they didn't bulldoze.”

Smith and Bybee

This formerly more industrial spot is also now a park.

“It used to be the dump, and then they filled it back in,” says Emily. “I really like going there in the early summer when the carp are mating or something. They're just swirling around in the shallows all the time and making this big ruckus. It's kind of fun because then you know where to look and you can see these cool giant fish that live in the lake.”