Portland
Markus is so happy to be in the tulips in front of the hot air balloon at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Oregon (we actually caught him yawning here - in case you were wondering)
About Portland, Oregon
We recently took a trip down the I-5 to Portland, Oregon and in that time, we got to see some amazing sites and capture beautiful photos and memories. Driving from Vancouver, we stayed over for two nights and we wanted to share some of the activities that we got to enjoy with Markus with you.
Where We Stayed in Downtown Portland
Location: Hotel Rose - A Staypineapple
Hotel Pet Fee: $25/night up to 2 pets
Markus resting with his new friend, the mascot from the Hotel Rose - A Staypineapple Hotel in downtown Portland
For our two nights in downtown Portland, we stayed at the Hotel Rose - A Staypineapple Hotel. We had actually been to the Hotel Rose previously without Markus and we enjoyed our stay there, but they've since gone under renovations with the Staypineapple name so it was a little bit updated from what we remembered.
If you've never heard of Staypineapple, they're worth looking into to see what they're about. They have unique branding as a young and fun hotel chain and one of the things that sets them apart that drew our attention is their dog policy.
The Staypineapple chain is so actively welcoming to dogs that they have amenities and packages just for dogs. They're also fine with leaving dogs at the hotel rooms while their owners are out exploring the city. Not all hotels allow you to do this. Oh, and did I mention they have a mascot and it's a dog?
The areas surrounding the hotel are great for dogs as well. Across the street, there's a long stretch of park and grass that follows the Willamette River, which makes for a beautiful walk in the morning. From across the hotel, you'll entire the park at about midway, so you can choose to go north or south from there and loop back. Having a park nearby is fairly nice to have because in downtown Portland, there really aren’t that many places or grassy areas for a dog to find their spot.
If you happen to be there on a Saturday, we would recommend heading up north towards the Burnside Bridge where they have their Portland Saturday Market with crafts, gifts, food carts and entertainment. From there, you can head west to hit up the famous Voodoo Doughnut if you're feeling hungry. The hotel's located in a pretty good area in downtown Portland, so you can do a little bit of shopping (including the dog-friendly Nordstrom Rack a block away).
My Recommendation for Reactive Dogs
While I've never felt so warmly welcomed at a hotel as a dog owner because of their wonderful staff and dog-friendly rooms, I also wanted to share my perspective as an owner of a reactive dog and one of the issues I had.
As soon as we got off the elevator onto our floor, we realized that the entire floor was dedicated to dogs. Even walking to our room, dogs in other rooms would hear us walk past and start barking. All it takes is one dog barking and it could set off a chain of dogs barking from the other rooms.
Our dog Markus is very alert and aware of his surroundings, especially in a place he's not familiar with like a new hotel room. In previous trips, we've mentioned that when there are doors closing, foot traffic or loud voices in the halls, Markus will become very alert. He generally doesn't start barking unless he feels threatened, like if the sound is right at our door. However, because of all the other dogs that were already whining and barking as we walked by, we could tell he wasn't too comfortable.
Even when we had been in our room for a while, we felt that it was hard for Markus to fully get settled because of the proximity to other dogs. He would start to rest in his bed and a dog a few rooms down would start barking, setting off the chain, and he would suddenly be alert and look up at the door again.
It's hard. I get the benefit of having a dedicated dog floor for the hotel and even dog owners, but it was hard to sleep through the night because we kept waking up from the constant barking. People would return to their rooms in the middle of the night and a chain of barking would be set off and this sometimes included Markus as well. The silver lining is that if Markus was at the hotel without us there and started barking, we wouldn't feel so bad since we knew other dogs were doing it too.
As much as I enjoyed everything else about this hotel and how great the hotel was with dogs, it's hard for me to recommend because it was hard for us to sleep through the night. That said, if you're able to sleep through sounds and your dog doesn't react or bark back to dogs in other rooms barking, you'll enjoy your stay.
Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm
Markus posing in front of a hot air balloon at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Oregon
About 45 minutes south of Portland, just off of Woodburn Premium Outlets is the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. This was a lot of fun for us, but it's worth double checking to see when blooming season is before you go since it's slightly different every year. All the different colours of tulips and the way they're arranged in the fields are breathtaking. The farm also has hot air balloons that you or your family are allowed to ride (for a cost), so if you can catch everything at the right time, it makes for absolutely stunning photos.
Since the window to see the tulips is limited per year to a little bit over a month, the farm draws crowds by the thousands every weekend. We knew it was going to be busy, so we had gone earlier in the morning, but the sheer number of cars and people at their lots were staggering. You might want to go earlier just to avoid the lines, but even with the number of people, the field is massive so you can definitely spread out to areas where there aren't as many people if your dog doesn't do well with crowds.
The Tulip Festival is dog-friendly so there will be many people bringing their pup to get a photo, but the fields are wide, so you can definitely keep a fair distance away from other dogs if your dog is reactive.
Henline Falls Trail
During this trip, we managed to squeeze in a hike that's about 1 hour and 40 minutes out of Portland. It's actually less of a hike and more of walk, but the Henline Falls Trail has quickly become one of our favourite trails in the Pacific Northwest. We fully documented our hike at Henline Falls that you can read here and we absolutely loved it because of how quiet it was and the beautiful Henline Falls at the end of the trail. If we're in the area and have the time, we would definitely do the trail again.
We recommend this trail to owners of reactive dogs because of how quiet the trail was. It's an on-leash trail and during our time there (on a weekend in late August), we only came across a handful of dogs. The hike was fairly easy and not much of a workout for those who are seeking that, but the waterfall at the end is stunning and you can get really close up to it!
Other Things to Do Around Downtown Portland
I'm cheating a little bit since some of these areas aren't in downtown Portland and you'll need a car to get to some of these locations. In no particular order, this is a list of some of the activities that stood out to us while we were in the downtown Portland area. Obviously, there are more things to do there than just what’s on this list!
Food Carts
One of the great things to do in Portland is to get some food from their food carts. Scattered all throughout Portland, these food carts are grouped in pods and you can get food from all types of cuisines. Each of these pods do have different working hours, so it's worth double checking when they're open before you go. Some of these pods close by 4pm, so you won't be able to grab dinner!
Since the pods are outdoors with bench or patio seating, you can definitely bring your dog with you. You can look for the Food Cart Pods, their hours, cuisines and locations online.
Multnomah Falls & Horsetail Falls
Markus smiling in front of the Mulnomah Falls in Oregon
Located about 45 minutes out of Portland towards the east is a waterfall known as Multnomah Falls. The waterfall is stunning and there's a bridge that allows you to get nice and close to it. There isn't much of a trail leading up to the waterfall, as it is a tourist attraction. In fact, from the parking lot, it is about a 5-minute paved walk and you're already in front of the waterfall.
Since it gets busy and it was packed with people, it was hard for us to get a photo and we had to do it off to the side. There's also a path to head upwards to get on the bridge, but we didn't do it. It seemed like an easy walk based on the number of people going up, though. Going south on the I-5, we stopped at Multnomah Falls before going into Portland.
We didn't have the time to visit this, but down the street from Multnomah Falls is another one called Horsetail Falls. Since we didn't do it, we can't say too much about it, though it might be worth checking out for you if you have time.
Woodburn Premium Outlets
If you're doing either the Henline Falls Trail or visiting the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, you might as well swing to the Woodburn Premium Outlets. We made a day out of doing all three of activities and it was enough to tire us out for the day!
All in all, we had a lot of fun in the downtown area of Portland. The next time we visit and if we have time, we'll be sure to do the Henline Falls Trail again, which I cannot recommend enough!
Disclaimer
Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.
Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.
