Check out our readers’ choice award winners for sweet treats, adventure attractions, kid-friendly take out, playgrounds, hikes and more.
Adventure Attraction
WINNER: Mt. Hood Adventure Park at Skibowl
Families have a wide, exciting range of fun choices at Mt. Hood Adventure Park at Skibowl. Naturally, this place is a wintertime must-visit with tubing and skiing. But it’s just as fun when the powdery stuff has melted. Find tamer thrills for younger kids, like the kiddie go-karts, pony rides or carousel. Your tweens and teens will flock to the adrenaline-producing attractions that include a bungee jump, zip lines and sprint karts at the Malibu Raceway. And just about everyone loves the Alpine Slide.
TOP 5
Skamania Lodge Zipline Tour & Aerial Park
Museums & Family Memberships
WINNER: Oregon Zoo
Any animal lover will tell you that the Oregon Zoo is a special place. Home to more than 2500 animals, birds, reptiles and more, the zoo also has a stellar family membership. Annual memberships start at only $39 for kids ($59 for adults)! And members get some sweet perks like 10% off on the zoo train and carousel rides and 10% off the popular wintertime ZooLights installation.
TOP 5
Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI)
Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Family-Friendly Hike
WINNER: Forest Park
Did you know that there are more than 40 access points to Forest Park? This 5,200-acre park is a Portland institution, and a repeat PDX Parent Picks winner. With more than 80 miles of trails, there’s a terrain suitable for your family to explore, whether it’s on foot, wheels or horseback.
Top 5
Playground
WINNER: Westmoreland Park
Westmoreland Park’s nature play area is the reigning champ for favorite playground. And it’s no surprise; with a giant rock pile to climb, logs to scamper across, water pump, and shaded sand area to dig in, kids always find new and inventive ways to keep themselves busy. And watching the noisy flock of geese that calls the park home provides even more entertainment.
TOP 5
Harper’s Playground at Arbor Lodge Park
Kid-friendly Bike Trail
WINNER: Banks-Vernonia State Trail
Kids love all the bridges — there are 13 of them! — on this 21-mile paved trail. Don’t miss the 733-foot long and 80-foot high Buton Trestle. In between the bucolic towns of Banks and Vernonia await glimpses of wildlife, wide pastures and lush forests.
TOP 5
Sweet Treats
WINNER: Salt & Straw
Breakfast cereal, edible flowers, Thanksgiving turkey — the makers at Salt & Straw ice cream find flavor inspiration in (oftentimes) the unlikeliest places. And our readers love them for it!
TOP 5
Pips Original Doughnuts & Chai
Kid-friendly Take Out
WINNER: Laughing Planet Cafe
Laughing Planet has earned the tops spot with its fresh, healthy array of burritos, bowls and salads, a kids’ menu that tempts even picky eaters, donations to local nonprofits making a positive impact — and those table-top dinos! It doesn’t hurt that kid-approved smoothies, burritos and bowls add up to one of the healthiest kids’ menus in town. (Just check out all the veggie options in the kids’ trifecta!) Their locations in über-family-friendly neighborhoods make it so easy for parents to pick up a lunch or dinner that kids will eat with no complaints. It’s no wonder it is a repeat winner in our readers’ poll.
TOP 5
La Provence – Petite Provence Bistro – Boulangerie Patisserie
Pizza
WINNER: Pizzicato Pizza
Pizzicato is not just a take-out hero with a great selection of kid-pleasing options, it’s also a community hero. Pizzicato has raised funds for local nonprofits such as Street Roots, Urban Gleaners and Black Resilience Fund.
TOP 5
Pietro’s Pizza & Pirate Adventure
Pizza Schmizza
Arcades/Bowling/Family Fun Center
WINNER: Bullwinkle’s Wilsonville
Whether the family’s idea of fun is inside or out, Bullwinkle’s Wilsonville is sure to have it. This ultimate family-fun center has bowling, laser tag, an arcade and an indoor play space for the littles. And if everyone is looking for fun in the sun, there’s bumper boats, a mini golf course, ziplining and go-kart racing. The hardest part is deciding which activities to do!
TOP 5
Electric Castle’s Wunderland Cinema and Nickel Games
KingPin’s Family Entertainment Center
Pietro’s Pizza & Pirate Adventure
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