Tryon Creek State Park

Nice place for a hike. Shady, pretty, heavily used but still feels fairly uncrowded. Pet peeve — some people seem to think the LEASH LAWS aren’t for their particular precious dog, especially when their dog is forging ahead on a heavily wooded trail. Shouts of «It’s fine, he’s friendly!!» when the owner finally hoves into sight just piss off those of us who keep their dogs (well-​behaved, well-​socialized dogs) ON THEIR LEASHES.

Neat state park with a variety of trails. Easy walk for a hiking novices. Mostly clean trails with occasional horse droppings. Beautiful sounds of forest bird calls and running creek water. Be sure to stop in at the friendly visitors/​nature center with park & trail map.

It’s that time of year now when we in the Pacific Northwest are starting to get REAL sick and tired of the rain and the clouds and the freezing cold weather — not to mention the frozen trails and lack of sane driving (myself included). I’ve been struggling, you guys, and on the edge of a cabin-​fever breakdown a few days ago, I demanded that we find somewhere new, somewhere close to home to just be outside. The dog was freaking out too; it just needed to happen and happen immediately. Now the good news is that I live in Portland so although I live a mile from downtown, I didn’t need to go far at all to be in the middle of nowhere. I pulled up Google Maps and found the nearest patch of green that I hadn’t already memorized — Washington Park, Forest Park, you know, the usuals.
I drove five minutes from my house in shock the entire time because I couldn’t believe I had never been to this place. Who knew that Terwilliger became a magical, forested wonderland on the other side of I-​5?! Certainly not me. Anyway, we arrived and wandered around for a few hours in between patches rain. The trails were easy to navigate and provided the necessary relief from the symptoms of my impending S.A.D. diagnosis. The Pacific Northwest, and Oregon specifically, is so lush and green and mossy and magical. A real-​life Pixie Hollow. And only miles from the heart of the city — silence.
But it wasn’t my most favorite because it was really crowded. To be fair, it was one of the more decent days of the season so a lot of people surely had the same idea I did, but it was like REALLY crowded. There were tons of families and we never stayed lonesome on any of the trails for very long. Which is cool, unless you’re me and have anti-​social tendencies. Then you will probably prefer places ironically closer to the city like Washington Park, which is actually more spread out and offers some space. I’ll probably come back here for sure, but more like on the occasions when I’m by myself and don’t want to be put in danger, not necessarily when I’m looking for peace and quiet, you know?

The park Tryon Creek is worthy of it’s state designation. The trees are tall and beautiful, while the air is fresh. It has plenty of parking, while this nears a Lewis & Clark College campus. Signs are abound.
This was the second time I went here. The first was by car. Taking the bus on the second visit was long and tedious, but the nature rewarding. Unfortunately, the park is a bit out of the way and more isolated compared to say the Hoyt Arboretum. But, the beauty is apparent, even by the sky-​high local standards.
Tyron Creek Park is certainly memorable.

If you dress right, the sub 40° day with no sun, wind or rain is awsome hiking weather. Extremely peaceful. Just a real nice connection to the natural world. City out of sight, out of mind, for a while. Even though you’re just 15 minutes from Portland City Center, suddenly you find yourself in this beautiful wilderness State Park surrounded by Oregonian green, lush ferns, tall trees and Moss abundant. You could hike 10 miles of trails that connect one another and walk across swinging bridges (8 bridges total). Also, 3 miles of paved bike trails and 3 miles of horse trails. Not a difficult terrain either. Nice hard packed dirt, very even to walk on. Tennis shoes or hiking shoes. It’s moderate rolling. Good to pump up the pulse and get ready for happy hour. We hooked with an online meet up group who knew the trail system and we could tagalong! Good trails!
The Tryon Creek State Natural Area is a state park is the only Oregon state park within a major metropolitan area, Portland! Be sure to check out the Nature Center with interpretive exhibits and store.

Can’t believe I’ve lived here all these years and never visited. Looking for a quick hike today, i googled it and then took off with my dog.
Nice, woodsy trails with a bunch of uphill spots to get the quads working. My dog was not a fan of the bridges.
The trails are well marked but I could have used a few «you are here» reminders. The parking lot has ample space, I hardly saw anyone even though there were about 20 cars parked in the main lot.
It’s a great trail system, easy to get to. Definitely added this to my weekly hiking schedule.

I can’t believe this place is still within the Portland city limits. It feels so isolated and miles away from civilization by virtue of the tall and thickly packed trees. I walk around here and I feel like at any given moment a sasquatch is going to jump out at me! Even though there are roads surrounding the park you don’t really ever hear the traffic, so it’s really peaceful, especially in the evenings. There are even trails you can ride your horse on, if for some reason you own a horse in Portland (apparently quite a few people do). Though this seems to be the only park I never see much wildlife at, other than an occasional squirrel. I guess everything must be lurking in the dense undergrowth and out of sight. Pretty cool place to go for leisurely walks or hikes, depending on which trail you take.

What a little gem of a place near downtown! We needed a place to walk our dog and found this place on Unilocal… It did not disappoint and was a fun little trail for us to take with our dog and high energy toddler… Kinda hard for me to carry my 8 month old in her carrier though… Still what a great find!

One of the many, many wonderful things about Portland is how quickly and easily you can feel enveloped by nature when the mood strikes. Tryon is a great example of this. It is great for a fairly quick hike that you can do on a weekend afternoon or even in the evening after work. This park is as beautiful on a rainy day as it is on a clear and sunny afternoon. There are multiple trails, so you can customize your walk to your preferences — if you want a longer hike with more hills to feel like you got a bit of a workout, you can do that. If you have small kids or people who have limited mobility, you can take the flatter, shorter trails. The trails are well maintained and the scenery is always gorgeous. It does get crowded on the weekends because it’s accessible to almost everyone — kids, dogs, people who are not super fit but maybe want to get some exercise — I even saw a lady on crutches once, getting in her afternoon walk. One of my favorite places in Portland.

Great urban forest setting. Took my dog and covered 4.5 miles of paths. Will be back!

Super-​high trees make you feel like you’re deep in the woods. My 2 year old had a blast.

An easy to access beautiful park. We took about 18 people ranging from 4 – 80 on the simple trails with no trouble at all mid winter. For the more adventurous the place is huge and had some excellent terrain including lots of creeks and rivers running through it.

Dude wanted to try a «new» hike besides Forest Park. It’s basically the same views, but seeing as Forest Park is a «5» same is not bad. I was disappointed the art installations were temporary. I love the idea of having cool little things to look for on the hike. Just saying.
It was really narrow at points with two dogs. Our dogs like to be next to each other so single track means one of us takes both and the other one looks lazy to all the people we pass. We like to keep up appearances and are obviously too lazy to train our dogs to be OK with single file lines so no points off for you Tryon.
We were surprised to not see Mosquitos with all the standing water, but I’d bring some repellant just in case. We made it back fine but grab a map at the center to help navigate this webby trail system or you’re likely to have that Blair Witch «this tree looks very familiar» loop thing happen.

Found this place recently and ventured out here from Beaverton in order to get a change of pace from Forest Park. Kept the pup on leash even though in Forest Park he typically roams responsibly but free because it seemed like a good bet here. The trails are pretty narrow and my 81 pound German Shepherd wouldn’t be the most welcome site a bend, even though he’s still a loppy puppy and the least scary GSD you’ve ever met.
Prior reviewers are spot on with the people here — everyone we ran into was super friendly and some of them you had to nicely jog away from so that they didn’t become your hiking buddy. Only one passive aggressive lady who said «LEASHES!» in a sarcastic tone to a man with two small and quiet dogs who I happened to be near at the time.
Great place for a relaxed and easy hike or a cool nature walk. For sure bring the pup but make sure the pup is TRULY voice controlled and not too excitable when seeing other people or pups, or you may get glared at a bit.

AWESOME! this is a great park. wonderful seemingly endless trails through the beautiful Oregon forest. I am an outdoor enthusiast just having moved to the Portland area less than two months ago. I’ve been to a number of nice dog parks but wanted to find an actual hiking trail near where I live to take the dog. BINGO! this is the spot. The whole trail system looks to be well shaded and out of the sun. Great for a hot day like today (upper 80s).
There is a nature center at the entrance and maps to grab so as you don’t get lost. Parking is limited however and they have an on leash policy for your dog. Although my Blue was off leash once we were deeper into trails. as were a few other well behaved dogs.
I highly recommend this park to anyone!

Walked here today with our dogs, soaking up a sunny spring weather. It was crowded but we found parking, and we went on a good hike, not terribly hilly but a few steep spots. You can go a few miles or a short loop depending on your mood. There were lots of signs on the trail which was great and even a clean bathroom to use at the nature center. The trilliums blooming everywhere were lovely to look at too. We met other dogs on the trail and they are allowed on leash however no one is allowed in the creeks because of the steelhead and salmon spawning. My husband is already talking about going back. Had a great time walking outside there. I can see why this is a top park to bring kids locally too. We wore out the dogs in preparation for the doggie dash next month.

WOWOWOW. I moved to Portland last Friday, and I have been meaning to visit this place since then. I am a nature freak. I love nature. All parts of it. This park is only a mile down Terwilliger, so I hoofed my butt over there yesterday and was planning to spend maybe an hour or two walking around the park. I stayed for almost three hours, and hiked 7 miles in and through the park. Really cool creek and area. Definitely worth checking out.
Also, I’m used to California hiking, where it’s always dry, sunny, and silent. Here in Oregon, it’s wet, overcast, and full of friendly folks. Some are a bit too friendly — try to have a full on life conversation with you when you’re just trying to have a nice bit of time with Mother Nature. But, all in all, everyone is super nice and friendly!

This is a great park for a day hike. There are a variety of trails to keep you busy. They have a gift shop and a children’s interactive room filled with books.

This is a great place to hike without having to drive a long way, and they have a parking lot and bathrooms. So that in itself bumps it pretty high on my list. Lots of well-​maintained trails that crisscross all over, some are wide (equestrian trails), some are for people only, and a few are paved so there are cyclists, so there are lots of options. It also feels pretty safe since it’s busy and not terribly remote (but it’s not crazy-​crowded either). Only downside for me is that even when I hiked for 1+ hours, it was only about 2.5 miles and not a lot of grade changes. I like a good, steep 5 mile hike that gets my heart rate up. But other than that, it’s pretty much perfect.
Go early for parking spaces and to avoid the group tours that can clog up the trails at some peak weekend times.

This is one of those parks that makes you feel at peace.
It would perfect for:
1) First dates. You can actually talk to one another because the trails are pretty level and not all too difficult.
2) Lazy Sundays. You know you should get outside and do something, but you kind of just want to lay around and watch Netflix instant. Go here for a few hours instead. You’ll get a little bit of exercise and a chance to enjoy a whole lotta legit greenery.
3) Dog or kid walking. The whole place is pretty dog and kid friendly. They can play on the bridges and run around. Some kids on my hike stopped me to show me a mole that was burrowing. It was pretty sweet.
Downside is probably the fact that unlike other state parks, there isn’t really a «hike for a phenomenal view at the top» kinda trail, which is always what I go for when it comes to parks. *Sigh* A little disappointing on that end, but that aside, gorgeous and GREEN!