Sunday Parkways
For biking enthusiasts, Sunday is the day to ride in Portland! Each Sunday, the city of Portland closes or reduces traffic around Southeast Portland. Plenty of major roads and greenways are available for bike traffic with reduced car traffic, making it safer for biking around with younger children. There’s even a special sticker hunt along the route where families can stop to pick up some special prizes! With numerous roadways available, it’s easy to build your own route from the paths available. Many roadways even lead past fun, family-friendly activities and parks, so you can spend the afternoon biking around from destination to destination, having a fun family day.
Sellwood Bridge Loop
The Sellwood Bridge Loop is a great trail for biking with little ones! The 11-mile loop is almost entirely flat, making it an easy and smooth ride for young ones newer to biking. The trail is almost entirely off the street, with just a few short stretches on a road that has a bike lane available. The path is a beautiful riverfront ride, looping along the Willamette River and across the Sellwood Bridge and Steel Bridge. The ride leads past the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, presenting some great opportunities for wildlife spotting!
Northeast Ramble
The Northeast Ramble path is a beautiful ride around Alameda Ridge, through some of the beautiful neighborhoods of Portland’s Northeast. The ride is only 15 miles long but does feature one short but steep climb. You’ll be able to see some beautiful views along the Willamette River and past many beautiful Portland parks. This route should be for kids who are familiar with bike safety, as much of the route is along roads without a bike lane available. However, the street themselves are on low-traffic neighborhood roads t
Laurelhurst Park
Laurelhurst Park, a 32-acre park in Southeast Portland, is an expansive park full of beautiful trails available for biking. The circuitous nature of the park’s trails makes it easy to wander and explore on bikes for everyone, and the trails lead around the park’s various features. Bike around between the park’s off-leash dog area, waterfront beaches, and playgrounds to spend lots of fun time together in between stretches of biking. Because the park’s trails are entirely off-road, it’s a great opportunity to get some bicycling practice away from the danger of cars.
North Portland Trails
Spend some time in nature by exploring the trails in the North Portland peninsula. The North Portland Trails bike loop is slightly longer for younger bicyclists, at 24 miles, but has a very minimal elevation change. The loop leads through the Columbia Slough, along Smith Lake, and along the Columbia River. The trail features a few hazards, including a short passage through which bikes only have a narrow shoulder to ride on a high-traffic road. However, the vast majority of the loop is off-street nature paths or along roads with bike lanes.
