Sellwood Park

Sellwood Park is marvelous. The trees are tall, there are plenty of drinking fountains and an amusement park is just downstairs. It is in close proximity to the Sellwood Bridge. There are trails and plenty of adventure even if there weren’t.
I went here as part of my visit to Oak’s Park. Lots of the trek there involves going through Sellwood Park. The beauty of this place was more than apparent, giving the feel of a park that properly represents this state in a wonderful light.
Portland is lucky to have Sellwood Park.

great place to take the dogs and let them swim! its a little crowded at times. and sometimes dirty. but it has a good view and its dog friendly! great beach

Being from Los Angeles these off the leash parks are light years away from what I am used to. It’s so nice to let the dog run free and safely have fun around other dog lovers.
I recommend packing a picnic heading to the beach first and letting your pooch run free and swim — after a bit head to the grass, claim a spot with a blanket and eat your lunch with your dog runs free and dries off.
Like I said — great spot to let dog lovers mingle and Pups run free.
Bring water for your dog though– they don’t have a water system set up for the furry ones yet.

This is a great park with a ton of amenities: tennis courts, skate area, public pool, river access, playground area, landscaped gardens, paved pathways, grassy fields, and just about anything else you can think of. The park is clean and comfortable. It’s a great place to spend a few hours on a sunny day.
So, if it’s that great, why three stars? Well, there’s quite a number of folks who think the entire park is off-​leash and allow their dogs to run free. I love to see a happy pooch running free, but I am also fully aware that not every dog is socialized sufficiently to be in an off leash area… which is why those areas exist and should be observed so everyone can have a comfortable time.
Ultimately the lackadaisical leashing keeps me from fully enjoying this park with my shelter-​rescue pup. And I know that makes me sound like a d-​bag, but it’s true.

Great neighborhood park for a stroll, views of downtown Portland across the river, and several varieties of tulips in bloom for early April. Lots of surrounding paths and grassy areas for general park fun, but I didn’t spy any toilets other than a honey bucket.

Love this spot… Nice spot for the families at the top part and a nice for dog lovers near the off leash part. My dog loves to go for a swim and run around with the other dogs there. When it rains it does flood a little there as its close to the water… but not so much the park as the lower level where the off leash area is. Its a lovely shaded park to have a nice picnic at or an afternoon swing.

Beautiful park.
Lovely play area for the kids. Nice and shady, too!
Parents and kids all seem nice.
Not a lot of parking available so you either have to bike in or circle around the neighborhood to find available spots.
The park is kept up nicely. The park is also great for parents of little ones as there are no homeless people or riffraff hanging round! Safety first!
The park play-​structures are pretty cool. Has a nice OLD-​SCHOOL metal slide and seesaw’s. Nice structures for tiny tots!
The only downside is there are several MUD HOLES in the park and it’s kind of gross and muddy most of the time.

Best park in the area. It’s got plenty of space, swings and play structures for all ages. It’s simply a gorgeous setting, too– you really feel like you’re IN Portland when you’re here. A few words to the wise: with so much shade, it’s often several degrees cooler there (a blessing and a curse); if there’s been a lot of rain, it can get pretty muddy; and, during the summer months, don’t be surprised when hordes of crazy Parks & Rec camp kids descend upon the peaceful setting out of nowhere!

Have a one year old lab and this place is awesome for off leash swimming fun.

Awesome Park. I sat in the shade and enjoyed the wind blowing through the trees. Seriously relaxing! The pool area is a good size for both adults and little ones. Baseball fields and Tennis or Basketball Courts. The view is one of the better parts. Looking out over the valley toward Portlandia. There is a trail that leads to Oaks Park Amusement or the 40 Mile Loop.

Drove by this park for the last 6 months… finally got a chance to check it out. This little park is fully equipped — View of Portland, right by the water, good for dogs, good for people (especially kids), a little trail for hike or just R&R.

I love this park, my dog Jake loves it. I love that it’s an open park and allows off leash pets. I always try to bring extra bags with myself so that i have plenty for Jake, and I have a few left over to leave for people that don’t have any. Not always on that.
I like that I can walk along the river with Jake, and he can get a little wet in between. The people are all friendly, and I have never had an issue with other animals being violent.
I do not like the fact there are the occasional people drinking a tall boy at the park. It’s a family atmosphere, we don’t need to see stuff like that.

Movie in the park, 3 different bands and an outdoor movie all free! It goes to show that tax $ can be better spent on community building rather then killing people in far away lands. I am so happy to pay some money for community enjoyment and recreation. Just think if we weren’t out making enemies of half. the world we could keep education and retirement social security benefits.

My dogs love it here. Why, you ask? Because it gets so extremely muddy!!! If you go here during our rainy season (95% of the year :) …wear your squishy boots because this place turns into a lake!
Be prepared to swing by the U-​Wash Dog wash on Bybee or else the ride home will be less than pleasant. Especially if you have a water dog. They always go straight to the river access spots (yes, the river, the Willamette river, one of the top most polluted rivers in the nation). Also, a majority of the regular dogs are what we call on the play ground as the «instigators». Rowdy dogs (mine included) only add to the muddy mess.
Remember: If you decide to brave this dog park… Squishy boots and scotch-​guard the eff out of you car :)
Good luck!

Totally perfect park! There is an off-​leash dog park along the river. My dog can jump in and chase balls, or run in the grass and chase tail. (Technically this part of the park is called Sellwood Riverfront Park) There is a swimming pool in the summer with a HUGE wading area for little ones (like mine). They sometimes have outdoor concerts, like Captain Bogg and Salty. There is a wooded path that weaves through the bird sanctuary and links the upper portion of the park where the playgrounds and baseball field are and the lower portion where the dog park is. It is fun for everybody!

A walk through the tall trees in this park is pure joy no matter the weather. Stay on the trail after the rains, even days after. Playground/​pool for kids.

Let me begin with a disclaimer. I come from Los Angeles originally. Perhaps that casts a cloud of suspicion anything else I might have to say but I mention it for a reason.
Coming rom Los Angeles I’m used to an environment where public parks are few and far between and those parks that do exist are typically overflowing with visitors and families arriving at 5 AM to stake out prime birthday real estate. Not to mention the various unsavory characters who clad themselves in «I’m gonna assault you» fashions that seem to come with any patch of grass large enough to through a frisbee on.
So imagine my delight and surprise when I moved to Sellwood some five years ago only to discover that I had two huge parks within walking distance that were both well-​maintained and filled with numerous usable services and, generally, free of molesters and other seemingly not so nice folk.
The most idyllic of these two is the Sellwood Park, situated on a bluff that sports one of the nicest views of Portland, from the Oak’s Bottom Estuary to the West side downtown waterfront and city skyline.
There are two large fields. One field is perpetually sunny, featuring has two baseball diamonds and a seasonal football field. The other is an open field bordered by rows of giving Douglas Fir’s that provide ample shade but also leave the field a little soggy at times.
There are four tennis courts. Two of which, are in pretty bad shape with poorly maintained surfaces but two of which, overlooking the Willamette and the Sellwood Bridge, have lights that can be manually turned on for night play.
For those that like to play old timey games like Horseshoes, you’re in luck. But bring your own ‘shoes.
There’s a large, shady kids area with swings, play structures, slides and bathrooms that also, unfortunately, can be a little on the damp side even in the middle of summer.
There are trails leading down to Oak’s Bottom and to Oak’s Park, Sellwood’s own little haunted amusement park.
But the crown jewell of the Sellwood park has to be the Sellwood Pool. This outdoor pool and the pool house is open to the public all summer long and is the oldest public pool in Portland. The pool house that borders the pool will remind you of a time that you’re only read about in books or seen in old movies. It’s staffed by friendly and charmingly inept teenagers who, in spite of their poor administrative skills, make for very sturdy lifeguards and great swim teachers.
The pool goes from 1 inch deep to 9 feet and has a slide and numerous water spouts. It’s a great place to spend the summer.
The only drawback to the Sellwood Park is that, after doing some research, I’ve discovered that the large field used to be a racing horsetrack. I wish I could have it all. The Sellwood Park now that’s perfect for swimming, playing pick-​up games of Softball and hanging out with the kids and the one where I could go and bet on local jockey’s trying their luck riding the ponies.
But hey– I’ve got no complaints coming. I used to have to drive 45 minutes to get to a park and then have to share it with hundreds of families playing pin the tail on the donkey and mountains of dog poop.

As far as I’m concerned, if it’s green and leafy it’s known as a «growie».
Sellwood park as has a whole lot of growies and they are definitely worth checking out as our last few days of summer quickly dwindle away.
This is quaint little neighborhood park has spots for pick up games of tennis, baseball, and soccer. There’s space to launch water balloons, replenish your arsenal, or avoid the soggy sport all together by sprawling out across the tons of tables to chat and play board games with good company any time between 5am and midnight.
I imagine like most other parks in town when the rain rolls in the activity may slow down, but of course never stop. The presence of very tidy covered shelters and arborous canopies still offer a safe haven for those looking for a bit of fresh air well into the snowy winter months.
Maybe then it will be time to trade the water balloons for an all out UYE snowball fight?

There are three parks and a wildlife preserve all within walking distance to each other in Sellwood: Sellwood Riverfront Park, Sellwood Park, Oaks Pioneer Park, and Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. We spent quite a bit of time on Friday evening wandering around Sellwood Park and the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. According to the Portland Parks & Recreation website Sellwood Park is over 16 acres although it does not seem that big while you are there! It is quite cozy actually.
The park is really great… we saw one basketball court, four tennis courts, a play ground, several ball fields, and a lot of walking paths both paved and unpaved. From certain areas of the park you have great views of the city, which is always nice. I loved how there were tons of benches and picnic tables to chill out on along with some cool logs that had been turned into places to sit.
The park has a great vibe… lots of families, couples, kids, and adults all just enjoying the beautiful day. We had such a nice time! I love how you can hike down into the wildlife preserve from the park, that was nice. Very cool park, we had fun.