On a recent trip to Portland, I admired tranquil Japanese and Chinese gardens, craned my neck to gaze at redwoods towering overhead, and hiked through a forest to find a witchy retreat — all within the city limits.
The city is beloved for its proximity to the great outdoors, with the waterfall-dense Columbia River Gorge and rugged Oregon Coast within a couple hours' drive. But you don't need a car to experience the Pacific Northwest's green spaces and vibrant fall foliage.
Portland has a robust mass transit system, with buses, streetcar lines and light rail routes that connected my Airbnb rental in Southeast Portland's Hawthorne district with the rest of the city. It wasn't just easy to get where I needed to go, it was easy to pay for it: Instead of fumbling with coins, I could use my contactless credit card or phone as a transit pass. Once I hit the cost of a day pass ($5, or the equivalent of two rides) I rode free for the rest of the day with the tap of my credit card.
The high-frequency MAX Blue and Red light rail lines seem tailor-made for car-free nature lovers, with a stop at the underground station in Washington Park. The sprawling 410-acre park on the western edge of Portland has 15 miles of trails and several attractions including the Hoyt Arboretum, Portland Japanese Garden, International Rose Test Garden (typically in bloom May through October), World Forestry Discovery Museum and the Oregon Zoo.
Authentic colors
My first destination was the Portland Japanese Garden, considered by many (including one former Japanese ambassador) to be the most authentic garden of its kind outside Japan. The garden is designed for thoughtful meandering rather than a purposeful hike, and its eight garden spaces reflect different styles and historic eras, ranging from the stark raked gravel of the Sand and Stone Garden to the Natural Garden's diminutive gurgling brook.
The attention to detail is meticulous throughout, from the deliberate movements of a tea ceremony demonstration to the harmonious shades of green. In the fall, those green hues are accented by the bright reds and golds of Japanese maples. Peak color is typically the last two weeks of October. At the Bonsai Terrace, you'll find colorful fall displays in miniature.
Fall in Portland is temperate, with an average October high temperature of 64 degrees. If you do need to warm up, the garden's Umami Cafe serves Japanese teas and light snacks. Built on a hillside overlooking the garden entrance, it feels like the world's most stylish treehouse. The beautiful presentation of the food and beverages mirrors the garden's intentionality, and the genmaicha (brown rice tea) and manju (cake filled with red bean paste) tasted as exquisite as they looked.
My next stop was the Hoyt Arboretum, about a one-mile walk from the Japanese Garden via a wooded trail. (Alternatively, you can take the free Washington Park shuttle, which connects the main attractions.) The arboretum is an open-air, living museum, with over 2,000 species of trees and shrubs from six continents arranged in themed collections. I was most drawn to trails that featured trees native to the Pacific Northwest, like the Redwood Trail. My eyes traveled up and up to the tops of giant sequoias and coastal redwoods —although, since they were planted less than a century ago, the trees have quite a way to go before they reach their full towering potential.