McDonald Forest (Corvallis area) Saturdays are for family adventures at our house. One of the things my family and I love to do is to find awesome hiking places that are great for little ones. When we happened upon McDonald Forest we were thrilled. McDonald Forest is an OSU research forest located west of Highway 99 and is 6 miles north of Corvallis. With 11,250 acres, most of which are forested, you are sure to feel like you are on your own adventure away from the city. We asked another hiker which way would be the best choice for our crew and headed off down the “William A Davies Road.” This wide path was a great option for us Keep Reading

Timothy Lake (Mt. Hood) On the eastern shore of Timothy Lake, in the Mt. Hood National Forest, lies Gone Creek Day Use Area. It’s a great place to take your family for a day trip to explore a mountain lake. On a hot summer day in August, we took our kids, ages 2 and 5, to join another family for some summer fun. We started the day with a stop in Sandy at the famous Joe’s Donuts for coffee and you guessed it, donuts. All fueled up, we drove for an hour into the mountains to Gone Creek for a day of outdoor play. For $5/vehicle or the National Forest Recreation Day Pass, we parked at the Day Use Area. With life jackets on, the kids jumped right Keep Reading

Philip Foster Farm and Barton Park (Eagle Creek/Barton) Although I grew up not far from where the Oregon Trail once wound along the Clackamas River to its end in Oregon City, it wasn’t until I accompanied my kids on a school field trip that I discovered that historic Philip Foster Farm, located in Eagle Creek, is well worth the admission ($20/car or $5/person). Open May through September, this is a great spot for kids to connect with Oregon history. What makes this historical park extra special is how hands-on they let kids be. Instead of watching a laundry demonstration, my kids got to scrub clothes on a real washboard and run them through Keep Reading