Things To Do

Near the Venue

Hood River

Hood River is a short drive across the river on the Oregon Side. It's the biggest town in the area, and has cute stores, restaurants, and coffeeshops. If you drive up into the mountains through Hood River, the elevation levels off and there's dozens of beautiful orchards and farms to visit. A lot of them you can pick your own apples, pears, berries, lavender, etc. The Gorge White House is a good place to start.

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

Our venue is within the Columbia River Gorge, a long stretch of the Colombia River between Oregon and Washington. Hood River and the Dalles are the main cities, but the greatest part of this area is the waterfalls and views along the river. The most famous being Multnomah Falls, which will be very busy this time of year but is worth the crowds. One of our favorite hikes, Wahkeena Falls, is a half-mile walk away from Multnomah and far less busy. Other places to check out include the Bridge of the Gods, Eagle Creek Trail, The Vista House, and Beacon Rock

Gifford Pinchot National Forest

For adventurous types, north of the venue on the Washington side is Gifford Pinchot National Forest. One of our favorite places to go camping, places to check out include Mount Saint Helens, the volcanic Ape Caves, Paradise Creek, and Falls Creek Falls (Very unassuming name for one of the most incredible waterfalls we've seen. Also a few minutes from where we got engaged).

Portland

Where many of you will fly into, and about an hour drive from the venue. If you stay in the city we'd recommend the Jupiter Hotel or Airbnb's as opposed to hotels downtown. Some restaurants and sights recommendations are below

Portland Restaurants

The food scene in PDX is great and it's most unique part is the abundance of food trucks. You can find every type of cuisine you can imagine. Checkout Hawthorne Asylum, Piedmont Carts, Hinterland, or Eastport Food Carts. In terms of brick-and-mortar restaurants, we love Cubo (Cuban), Harlow (Vegan), Luc Lac (Vietnamese), Boxcar Pizza, Petunia's (Bakery), and Queen of Sheba (Ethiopian).

Portland Sights

Portland has some of the best urban parks, as well as quirky neighborhoods (check out Hawthorne and Division street), vintage stores, old-fashioned movie theaters, and much more. Some of our favorite recommendations are the Japanese Gardens, Powell's Bookstore, The Hollywood Theater, Pittock Mansion, Rimsky Korsakoffee House, and The Grotto

Oregon Coast

About 2 hours west of Portland, the Oregon Coast is incredible, old growth temperate rainforest leads right to the ocean. We recommend driving to Cannon Beach and then taking the highway south, stopping at any of the hundreds of overlooks and beaches along the way. Some of our favorite areas (from North to South) are Ecola State Park, Cape Falcon Trail, Cape Lookout Park, Manzanita, and Depoe Bay