Forest Park gets all the national press, the REI ads, and the out-of-town hikers. But longtime eastsiders swear by Powell Butte. Is Forest Park overrated, or is it just superior?
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Add your commentPowell Butte on a clear day has a 360 view of FIVE volcanoes. FIVE. Rainier, Hood, Adams, St. Helens, Jefferson. Forest Park has trees. Great trees! But come on.
Counterpoint to the volcano view crowd: it's overcast 8 months of the year. How often do you ACTUALLY see all five volcanoes? I've lived here 20 years and done it maybe four times.
Took my kids to Powell Butte last weekend, saw a coyote, two red-tailed hawks, and a guy playing a ukulele to his dog. Perfect Portland afternoon honestly.
I've lived off Foster for 14 years and I genuinely cannot remember the last time I heard someone from the westside acknowledge Powell Butte exists. Classic Portland east/west thing.
the wildwood trail is beautiful but it's also full of people in $400 gore-tex who've never seen actual wilderness. powell butte is just regular portland people walking their regular dogs. i prefer that energy tbh
I moved here from Phoenix eight months ago and you people have NO idea how lucky you are. We have one mountain. It's South Mountain. It has cacti and rattlesnakes. All of your parks are paradise.
Forest Park has 80 miles of trails. Powell Butte has like 9. This isn't a debate.
My grandmother used to take me to Powell Butte before it was even properly maintained, back when it was just a muddy hill with some cattle. The fact that it's a real park now is genuinely wonderful.
Hot take incoming: Sauvie Island beats both of them and I'm tired of pretending otherwise.
Forest Park is genuinely one of the largest urban forests in the entire country. Comparing it to Powell Butte is like comparing the Gorge to Tryon Creek. Different categories.
Powell Butte is also a water reservoir site, which means the city actually has a reason to maintain it properly. Forest Park constantly struggles with funding for trail upkeep. Practical advantage to the Butte.
they're both great but can we talk about how badly Leach Botanical Garden gets ignored in these conversations. its literally a hidden gem and nobody ever mentions it
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