Sometimes when you exercise all you want to do is feel a cool breeze and some sun on your cheek. Instead your options seem limited to congestion-clogged major streets, run-down junior high school tracks, or your own neighborhood with that one really crappy gravel part where you always seem to twist your ankle.
At least, those are my choices. I finally got tired of it, though, and took a hint from my sister: the Southwest Hills trail system. As it happens, Southwest Portland is linked by tons of awesome trails that wind in and out of neighborhoods to form a vast and complex system. According to 40-mileloop.org, it is even “possible to hike from the Sellwood Bridge to the St. Johns Bridge along preserved park trails.”
While some of the trails are only tiny snippets of a quarter-mile or so, they all have decent signage, and link up with each other to form longer, continuous pathways through nature. If you’re the type that likes an adventure and a challenge, consider the 4T Trail Loop – for trail, tram, trolley, and train. Whoever said sitting down in the middle of a workout was a bad idea obviously never met this great way to spend a Saturday.
For a wide variety of trails to choose from, try downloading this walking map. There’s such a wide variety – easier and harder paths, flat trails and ones with elevation changes – and the choices are so customizable, it’s hard to imagine any Southwest Portlander not being satisfied. Or heck, anyone at all.
How cool is that? Next time you want to walk, run, bike, or get the dogs out for some exercise, no need to look up and down the block, heave a sigh, and head off toward that same let-down of a gravel pit. Just grab your shoes, your map, and head on out.
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