Portland's Best Outdoor Activities Beat Record Heat This July

Portland’s thermometer hit 98°F on Thursday, and the city’s parks and rivers are packed. With wildfire smoke drifting south from British Columbia and a heat advisory extended through Sunday, residents are flooding the city’s natural refuges. The good news: Portland has more than 10,000 acres of public green space within city limits, making it one of the most park-dense major cities in the United States.

This matters now because the July heat wave is expected to persist into next week, and air quality alerts have been issued across the Pacific Northwest. The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management opened cooling centers at four community centers on Friday, but many people are opting for the river and the woods instead. The city’s Forest Park-the largest urban forest in the U.S. at 5,200 acres-has seen a 30% uptick in foot traffic this week compared to the same period last year, according to Metro data.

Where to go: Forest Park and the Willamette River

The Wildwood Trail, a 30-mile ribbon that runs the length of Forest Park, is the premier destination for hikers and trail runners. The trailhead at NW Thurman Street and NW Upshur Street in the Northwest District offers parking for about 40 cars; it filled by 8 a.m. on Saturday. For a shorter loop, the Maple Trail, a 2.5-mile route near the Oregon Zoo, features second-growth Douglas fir and a creek crossing that keeps temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler than downtown. No permit is required, but trail maps are available free at the Forest Park Conservancy office on NW 23rd Avenue.

On the Willamette River, the Portland River Company at Tom McCall Waterfront Park has launched a summer kayak rental program. Single kayaks cost $25 per hour, and the company runs guided sunset paddles at 7 p.m. daily through August 31. The route from the Steel Bridge to the Hawthorne Bridge passes under the Burnside Bridge, where heron colonies nest on the pilings. Life jackets are mandatory; rentals include a PDF and a whistle.

For families, the newly renovated nature play area at the Audubon Society of Portland’s 150-acre sanctuary in the West Hills opens its interactive water play zone on Saturday. The sanctuary, located at 5151 NW Cornell Road, offers free entry for kids under 12, and the play area features a recirculating stream and tactile plant beds designed to teach children about native ecosystems. Audubon staff say the zone can handle up to 50 children at a time but that it filled to capacity by 10 a.m. last weekend.

Beyond the basics: Swimming holes and bike paths

Portland’s swimming holes extend beyond the overcrowded Sandy River Delta. The swimming spot at Kelley Point Park, where the Willamette meets the Columbia River, has a sand beach and lifeguards on duty from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Labor Day. The park, at 9401 N. Denver Avenue, has a new parking lot that added 60 spaces this spring, but cars were still spilling onto side streets by noon Friday. Water temperature at the Columbia was 64°F on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey-cool enough to provide relief but not dangerously cold.

Cyclists have the Springwater Corridor, a 21-mile paved trail that follows the Willamette south from OMSI to the Clackamas County line. The trail connects to the newly opened Gateway Green bike park, a 25-acre off-road facility at I-205 and NE Halsey Street. The park features a pump track, a skills area for beginners, and a 1.2-mile single-track loop through oak savanna. Portland Parks & Recreation opened Gateway Green in May 2025 with $3.2 million from Metro’s regional bond measure. Entry is free.

What happens next: The heat wave is forecast to break by Tuesday, with highs dropping to the mid-80s. That will expand options for hikes and river activities without the risk of heat exhaustion. The Forest Park Conservancy plans to lead its weekly volunteer trail-maintenance session on Saturday, July 18, meeting at the Leif Erikson Drive gate at 9 a.m. No experience is necessary; tools and gloves are provided. For those who want to plan ahead, the city’s Parks & Recreation online reservation system opened on Friday for after-hours permits at Washington Park’s picnic shelters. Book early-last year, all 12 shelters were reserved within a week of the opening date.