Parking in Downtown Portland, Or?

[GoingPhishin]

My wife and I are planning a trip from Colorado to the Oregon coast. We would like to spend an afternoon in downtown Portland. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips where we can park our Interstate Downtown for four or five hours?

[pappy19]

Originally Posted by GoingPhishin

My wife and I are planning a trip from Colorado to the Oregon coast. We would like to spend an afternoon in downtown Portland. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips where we can park our Interstate Downtown for four or five hours?

I used to work in and around Portland 15 years ago. I wouldn't go to Portland now for any amount of money. Go to Pendleton or Burns, but Portland is now a pigsty.

[bweybright]

Please email me directly if you wish. I don't want to get involved in posting against the prior post. I do live a bit west of Portland in the considered Metropolitan district and can offer some thoughts to make your trip worthwhile.
I work days but will get back to you promptly. And, I think can offer some balanced suggestions to help you get a nice time in the area.
For instance. you can park and stay at the Washington County Fairgrounds with connections (water and electric with a dump station) and walk to a MAX train stop to take a train ($5 bucks for a day) into Portland....maybe pappy19 doesn't know about that? And he left 15 years ago. so doesn't realize that Portland still has some things worth visiting, sorry he got burned on the way out.
So, snarking aside. contact me via pm and I will get back to you to help you out. I am done being snarky on the site but will help you as best I can with what you want to do while here.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, park at IKEA and take a train.

[Mike Hogan]

Originally Posted by GoingPhishin

My wife and I are planning a trip from Colorado to the Oregon coast. We would like to spend an afternoon in downtown Portland. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips where we can park our Interstate Downtown for four or five hours?

For overnight stay: Clackamette RV Park.
For a 1/2 day, any brewery or winery.

[Troy McLure]

Originally Posted by pappy19

I used to work in and around Portland 15 years ago. I wouldn't go to Portland now for any amount of money. Go to Pendleton or Burns, but Portland is now a pigsty.

Well, that was completely unhelpful...

That said, I'd discourage downtown parking. Downtown has some quirky one-way roads and one-lane bus malls that can make it challenging if you don't know what you're doing. Also, I just wouldn't park my trailer/rv in *any* major metropolitan area and leave it unattended for hours. I don't need the stress worrying about it while I'm out trying to have a good time.

The above suggestions are good (except for pappys). Finding a brewery in the city that has space can be hit or miss. Portland - by design - is trying to move away from car use, so you'll see some narrow roads and very limited parking. IKEA and Wash. Co. are excellent ideas but they are a solid 30+ minute light rail ride into town. If you only have 4-5 hours, you'll eat one of those up just getting in and out.

You're welcome for park at my place for the day. I'm in SE Portland and on 2 bus lines that are 10-15 minutes from downtown. Plenty of room out front. Safe neighborhood and the Interstate can keep our FC company.

[daleyocum]

Taking light rail into town is an excellent idea. Right now there is a good sized strip mall in a safe neighborhood right off the freeway who has lost their anchor and thus has a lot of free parking. It’s a 7 minute walk to the Sunset transit center which will take you straight into downtown.

Buy something from one of the merchants in the mall, they’ll thank you.

Paste this into Google maps: G675+QJ Beaverton, Oregon

[Hophead]

Originally Posted by GoingPhishin

My wife and I are planning a trip from Colorado to the Oregon coast. We would like to spend an afternoon in downtown Portland. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips where we can park our Interstate Downtown for four or five hours?

Best city ever for walking, biking iand mass transportation. Culturally diverse. Food excellence. Wine and beer marvelous. Homelessness is an issue just ignore it. Find a park and ride lot perhaps along the max light rail system and take the train into Portland. I would definitely try parking at the Fred Meyer at 99th iand Gateway. People park there all the time to take carpool excursions hiking in to the Columbia Gorge and Fred does not mind. It will fit the trailer. Then you take gateway transit about 25 minutes into the heart of downtown Portland. If you need recommendations one in Portland, I am all over it. I love it there. I know the best places to eat whatever you want.

[BCStreamin]

Second the other posts. A variety of solutions with MAX access. MAX is well run and has stops in the center of the retail district.

That said, what has happened to Portland is terribly sad. I would not venture into downtown with my family. One of America’s most beautiful cities has been terribly compromised by neglect and inadequate law enforcement.

[GoingPhishin]

Originally Posted by bweybright

Please email me directly if you wish.

Will do. Thanks!

[GoingPhishin]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I really appreciate the help and kind offers.



We will have my dog with me (135lb Newfoundland). We had thought about parking on the outskirts and taking public transit into town. But we want to walk around with our dog (mostly along the river front) in Town, so taking public transit into downtown doesn't seem like an option. I was hoping someone knew of a great lot downtown that could accommodate a 25' van.

[hhendrix]

I live in SW Portland and I don't even like taking my truck downtown, let alone any trailer. Taking the Max (light rail) is a good idea if you can find a safe place to park. Only place I can think of is as someone suggested, the Ikea parking lot and then walk to the Max station. Keep in mind that the ride to downtown is about 30 to 45 minutes depending time of day and where you leave the train.

If you are a WBCCI member this is one courtesy parking available in the Portland area. You could disconnect and take your vehicle with you. Even still however, parking is often a challenge. Or, you could drive to a Max station nearby (free parking at transit centers) and ride the light rail.

[pgeller]

Portland is a wonderful, modern city, hardly a pig sty. My family spends almost every weekend walking, shopping and eating/drinking downtown. Are there homeless? Sure, but so does every us city of interest. I’d recommend parking near the Lucky Labrador pub on the east side of the Willamette, and walking across the bridge to get to downtown. Folks will love your big dog in waterfront park. Start and end with a great beer at the lab.

[rlphillips00]

Thought I’d mention we camped our AS at the state park NW of Portland, and drove our lifted Ram 2500 diesel w an 8 foot bed to downtown where there is ample indoor parking lots with just enough room to fit our aircraft carrier in. Street parking is always an option too but tight.

[mykytiukr]

Originally Posted by GoingPhishin

Will do. Thanks!

Yes I believe this person may be your “go to” guy! Portland has always been my favorite city to truck to! However, it is not the Portland it used to be. It has a real homeless issue! Tents next to off ramps, RR tracks, wherever! And a lot of them have RVs. So, with that said, sadly, parking your AS anywhere you will probably be looked at as one of ‘em. I usually hang out at Jubitz Truckstop on the north end of Portland, There is always ample parking during the daytime for maybe a day excursion. Even at night it usually never fills completely. If you buy some fuel and don’t look like homeless and mention at the fuel desk what your plans are, this may be an option. Also, Portland is known as an “old money” town!

Happy Motoring! Enjoy Portland. I always do!!!

[daleyocum]

FYI Dogs are only allowed on mass transit in Portland if they are either a service dog or in a carrier. The later might be a little hard with your big buddy!

[Gsmblue]

If you are just passing through, then park at a transit center, like the one at ikea on the east side (cascade station) or drive through town to the west side transit center at (sunset transit station I think).

I used to live in downtown and then the Alberta neighborhood. For my money I prefer the neighborhoods like Alberta or Hawthorne, good eats and drinks, pick up a local paper like the willamette weekly or the mercury, plenty of restaurant reviews and current events, more up to date that I can provide at least!

Have a fun and safe trip!

[MontyV]

I wouldn't try to tow or park in PDX unless you have to. rely on light rail or uber. park in a mall lot or walmart or homedepot. stay hooked up so it is clear you are not trying to camp. I know the expo has free parking for light rail if you are in by a certain time in the morning.

[Airwave503]

AT or near Sunset Transit Center could be an option since your heading to the coast anyway. Short train ride back down the hill to downtown, and not much traffic from the transit center west.

Let me know if you have any q's about the coast.

[Rovin Raven]

Portland traffic is awful. We stayed at Clackamas as mentioned above, and took the light rail and buses to the areas we wanted to visit. However, keep in mind that Clackamas has a curfew when they lock the gates, I believe 10pm. This was a problem when eating dinner with family. By the time we got back it was after 10pm by a little. We had to park our truck and walk in the dark back to you AS. One morning we had to drive our son to catch an early flight, which was before the gates are unlocked. That meant we had to park our truck outside of the gate, then get up early enough to allow us to walk to the truck outside the gate. Nice park, but keep in mind those details.