"What do dogs do on their day off? Can't lie around - that's their job." - George Carlin
Once the spring breaks in Oregon all bets are off. Now that the days are longer there is more daylight to squeeze in meaningful time outdoors with your dog. Although our dogs do not seem to mind going to the same park over and over sometimes it helps us enjoy these adventures more when there's new scenery from time to time. If choosing a new locale has been tough recently here are a few that are tried and true walks that we really enjoyed taking our dogs too.
Oswald West State Park - Beach
This particular park is about ten miles south of Cannon Beach and offfers many options for hikers and beach goers alike. The state park contains Neahkahnie Mountain, Short Sand Beach, Short Sand Creek, Necarney Creek, Cape Falcon, Smugglers Cove and the Oregon Coast Trail.
Once you park at the Short Sands Trailhead you will follow along Short Sands Creek for about a half mile under a canopy of sitka spruce and douglas fir until the trail opens up into Smuggler's Cove. It is at this point that you have an entire beach for running, frisbee, swimming, and all the other stuff that dogs love to do. Don't forget to bring some lunch and extra water because you're going to be out here for awhile!
Westside Regional Trail
Extending north to south through Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, the Westside Trail is one of the areas most important corridors. This path connects west side neighborhoods and communities while providing access to the region's distinctive rivers, forests and prairies. The trail provides six miles of almost continuous path that also provides access to many THPRD parks (including Progress Lake, Barrows Park, Murrayhill Park, Westside Linear Park, and a few others).
The paths are well maintained and many areas are great for just lounging around with your dog on the grass or throwing a tennis ball across many of the wide open fields of the path. There are many other four legged park goers to meet and play, just remember to go earlier in the morning or after the sun begins to set in the summer as many parts of the path can get pretty hot during the mid day.
Mt. Tabor Park
Located in Southeast Portland is Mt. Tabor park. The park covers what used to be an active volcano at one time but now serves the Portland area as a recreational and green space. There are several trails that cover from one to three miles throughout the park as well as their very own dog park!
This park makes a great place to practice some on the leash walking as well as socializing off the leash with many lovely dogs of Southeast Portland. At a 636 foot elevation the park offers up some really beautiful cityscape visuals as well!