Portland Stair Walks Explore Portland Oregons Public Stairways

With Portland Stair Walks in hand, you’ve got 18 walking and biking adventures from 2 to 17 miles. Routes explore public stairs, paths hidden from Google Earth, pedestrian/bike bridges, mountain peaks, floating walkways, river beaches, and even a tunnel or two in one of America’s most topographically gifted cities. Maps, easy-to-use directions, stories, opinions, newest trails and stairs—your guide has been honing her forensic pedestrian ways for 30 years in Portland, and this book packs it all up. And of course, every route passes by places to eat and drink, because, after all, this is Portland. Go with a friend, a new lover, an old spouse, or a child or parent of any age. On a Portland stair walk there’s always much to laugh over, wonder about, and appreciate.

Why is it so satisfying to walk up and down stairs? Maybe it's the new layer of discovery with each step up--a new far-off view and a new close-up look at the plants and buildings. Maybe it's the fleeting proximity one has to passing strangers. Maybe it's the great feeling of propelling yourself upward and then floating downward. Maybe it's the best workout you can get without putting on gym clothes. Whatever the reason, stairs are an excellent way to get yourself up or down a landscape, and Portland, Oregon has a whole lot of them built into our public sidewalk and trail infrastructures. With Portland Stair Walks as your guide, you'll have 18 urban adventures on foot (or even bike) with:

142 staircases

22 hidden paths

26 bridges

2 tunnels

1 island

1 floating sidewalk

1 aerial tram

and several beaches

And you'll enjoy views of:

2 rivers

16 river bridges

4 volcanos

3 creeks

many city vistas

and innumerable small details that make the city and its history come alive

Stair-loving pedestrians rejoice

Laura O. Foster writes about Portland, Oregon, and the nearby Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. She also writes for Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Travel Oregon, BikePortland, and Portland Parks & Recreation. A former urban-walks guide for the Multnomah Athletic Club, she leads occasional walking tours for nonprofits and local government agencies. Her explorations of Portland’s stairs and hidden paths have been featured on Oregon Field Guide, Oregon Art Beat, and AM Northwest. Her work has been featured in Portland Monthly, Willamette Week, the Portland Tribune, the Oregonian and KBOO’s Between the Covers. She has been a Portlander since 1989.