by Megan Jablonski
Great weather has fully embraced the Northwest: flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing and neighborhood vegetable gardens are exploding with fresh produce. It is a terrific time to be out and about in our region, which has many remarkable attractions now open for visitors! Those seeking fun in the sun will be sure to find plenty in the following destinations.
Oaks Amusement Park. One of the Willamette Valley’s most popular family fun spots, Oaks Amusement Park is a large entertainment park in operation from March through September. Located on S.E. Oaks Park Way in Portland, the park contains over 20 rides that range from mild to wild, a midway with carnival games and concession stands, a miniature golf course and the nation’s largest roller rink — complete with a working pipe organ, which produces live music for skating. Sprawling picnic grounds surround the park, offering visitors lots of room to relax and dine in the shade.
Enchanted Forest. This beloved theme park outside Salem is filled with storybook villages, castles, an old Western mining town and towering mountain peaks. It even boasts a genuine haunted house with dark and drafty corridors, door-rattling ghouls and glowing coffins in the wings! There are several amazing rides in the park, including a rollercoaster of bobsleds on a mountainside and a ride that plunges visitors down a watery slide. Rides and slides for younger children are also available, including a tot-sized train and a kiddie Ferris wheel. In the Old Europe Village, visitors can take shelter from the sun in the shady theater next to the concession stand, which features a water light show set to music.
Kah-nee-ta Resort. Oregon’s high desert is a great place to connect with nature, and the Kah-nee-ta Resort in Warm Springs has many wonderful outdoor activities available for guests. It features picnic grounds, a miniature golf course, an 18-hole golf course, and courts for tennis, basketball and volleyball. Visitors can discover more of Central Oregon’s appeal by going for a hike or horseback ride, kayaking or fishing on the Deschutes River, or just exploring the beautiful and extensive resort grounds. There are several sparkling pools, including a wading pool for small children and a pool with waterslides. The main pool is heated by natural hot springs, so visitors can splash in it year-round.
Skamania Lodge. This resort is situated in the Columbia River Gorge with the forest at its door, making it an ideal location for a great outdoor experience! Visitors to the lodge can enjoy hiking on scenic trails, terrific biking, and fishing in pristine creeks and streams. For the seriously adventurous, thrilling whitewater rafting trips and zip-line tours of the surrounding forest’s green canopies are available.
Wild Waves Theme Park. Federal Way, Washington, is home to popular Wild Waves. It is both a water park and an amusement park, and an excellent place to spend a warm summer’s day. The park contains over 40 rides, slides and rollercoasters, many of which are family friendly. There are plenty of rides for thrill seekers, and an entire section dedicated to entertainment for little ones. Expansive and sunny grounds for picnicking are located next to the park’s main entrance.
While Northwest summers are full of fair weather, rainy spells are inevitable. Families should not let this deter them from enjoying their vacations, however! There are plenty of indoor attractions to keep everyone entertained for days, including the following.
Oregon Coast Aquarium. The aquarium is located off Highway 101 in Newport, next to the waters of Yaquina Bay. It is home to many native sea creatures from the Pacific, and offers a variety of exhibits detailing the changing state of the ocean today. As visitors make their way through the aquarium’s rooms, past live exhibits, they are taken on a journey from local tide pools to the deep, open waters patrolled by the sea’s most menacing predators. There are also outdoor enclosures housing playful sea otters, sea lions and a giant Pacific octopus.
Glowing Greens. This is an indoor miniature golf course like no other. It has 18 holes, is lit with black lights and features special effects to boggle the senses and make the game more challenging. There are currently two locations open to serve guests in downtown Portland and in Beaverton.
Evergreen Water Park. Adjacent to the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville is Wings and Waves, a large water park built entirely indoors, so visitors can enjoy its features even when the outside weather is inclement. The park contains a wave pool, several smaller pools for younger swimmers and a plethora of thrilling water slides. There is also a play area where younger guests can frolic in a forest with water toys such as self-filling buckets, valves and hoses.
Portland Family Favorites
The Northwest is home to some celebrated vacation destinations for natives and visitors alike. These include several amusement parks and some rare creature exhibits. Visitors can spend many hours exploring these sites and still see only a fraction of what they have to offer — which is why a lot of folks plan to stay an entire day or longer at these attractions.
The Portland Aquarium. Visitors to the beautiful new aquarium in Portland can spend the day getting “hands on” with all kinds of creatures from the sea and air. There is a large, open tank with friendly sea animals that guests can pet, and a playful giant Pacific octopus. Other larger tanks house colorful sea jellies, sharks, sting rays and an extremely diverse assortment of fish from both the tropics and cold freshwater. There is also a steamy rain forest environment with exotic reptiles and amphibians, and an aerie filled with brilliantly colored lorikeets who love to get social with the guests!
In addition to the many fascinating live and factual exhibits about the world’s oceans, the Portland Aquarium offers some very unique guest experiences. Visitors can go behind the scenes to witness what curators do every day to take care of the aquarium’s many animals, or come in and help them perform the morning routines necessary to get the aquarium ready for opening. Guests can also spend time interacting with the octopus, or have birthday parties and sleepovers in specific sections of the aquarium.
The Portland Aquarium features story-telling sessions with Oregon Mermaids. On certain days, the nautical lovelies are present to delight children with tales of life in the briny deep. The last time I visited the aquarium with my young daughter, we were lucky enough to catch one of these enchanting sessions!
North Clackamas Aquatic Park. One of Oregon’s premier water parks is located just off Interstate 205 in Milwaukie. The North Clackamas Aquatic Park is bursting with fabulous attractions open to the public during the recreational swim time known as “Big Surf.” Guests can splash in the warm wave pool, jump into the diving well, romp in the fountain play area and slide down one of several thrilling waterslides. There is also a 29-foot rock climbing wall for fearless visitors who love to reach new heights!
The aquatic park offers guests other amenities besides splash time. Swimming classes for children and adults are held daily. There is also a pool solely for those who want to exercise by swimming laps, water walking or doing water aerobics. Aquatic fitness equipment such as dumbbells and buoys are always available for guests to use during their exercises, and there are scheduled water workouts with a trained instructor.
Mt. Hood Ski Bowl. Skiing and snowboarding are not the only thrilling things to do on Mt. Hood! The Ski Bowl Adventure Park is open, and there are over 20 attractions and activities for guests to experience. Visitors can take zip-lines down the mountain, or ride through the challenging mountain bike park. They can hit the batting cages, compete in go-kart races, and play several rounds on the stunning, 18-hole disc golf course. Horseback riding, bungee jumping and rock wall climbing are some of the other exciting activities offered to park visitors.
Many fun pursuits await Ski Bowl guests outside of the adventure park, as well. Superb canoeing, fishing and kayaking are as close as nearby waterways. Visitors can see truly breathtaking freshwater scenery on available whitewater rafting tours and waterfall hiking trips. There are even guided bike tours, which are a great way for guests to take in the beauty of the mountain!
Silverwood Theme Park. Just outside of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, sits the Pacific Northwest’s largest entertainment park. Silverwood is acres and acres of carnival-style rides, like the Tilt-a-Whirl, Ferris wheel, and Flying Elephants. There are also several rollercoasters, such as the Corkscrew and Aftershock, swooping and looping over the park. Families with younger children can find plenty of thrilling rides, including the Barnstormer and Butterflyer.
When the days heat up in Silverwood, guests can head to the aquatic-themed section to cool off! Boulder Beach Water Park has miles of winding waterslides and two immense wave pools for splashing around. Guests can ride giant inner tubes down a gentle river ride, or shoot down a high-velocity slide to a waiting pool below. There are also two colossal splash parks for younger visitors, known as Toddler Springs and Polliwog Park.
Megan Jablonski is a freelance writer and mother of three from Hillsboro, Oregon.
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The post A Northwest Summer of Fun appeared first on Portland Family Magazine.