Fun ideas for your summer bucket list!

We've rounded up our favorite ideas, family activities, and festivals in the Portland/Vancouver Metro areas to keep boredom away this summer.

• Berry Picking on Sauvie Island or Columbia Farms
• Hiking at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Frenchmans Bar, Forest Park, Tryon Creek, or Burnt Bridge Creek Trail
• Bike Waterfront Renaissance Trail, Banks-Vernonia Trail or Fanno Creek Trail
• Get ice cream at Cloud City or Ice Cream Renaissance
• Visit Mount St. Helens
• Experience the 4-T Trail
• Picnic and paddle board at Timothy or Lacamas Lake
• Visit Oaks Amusement Park
• SugarPine Drive In and walk to Sandy River
• Watch wildlife at Whitaker Ponds
• Grab ice cream at Tillamook Creamery and go for a bike/hike at Kilchis Point Reserve
• Order take-out from a Multnomah Village restaurant and walk over to Spring Garden Park for a picnic
• Visit a Portland food cart pod like Cartlandia, Happy Valley Station, BG’s Food Cartel, Cartopia, Portland Mercado, and the Alder Street Food Cart Pod
• Check out some of the Vancouver food cart pods clustered around breweries, such as the Uptown Food Village at Trap Door Brewing and Hazel Dell Commons located outside of Brothers Cascadia Brewing.
• Go for a dip at one of these swimming holes less than an hour from Portland: High Rocks, Sandy, Oxbow, Rooster Rock, Oneonata Gorge, Moulton Falls
• Rent a kayak and explore along the Columbia Slough Watershed, Lower Hood River, the Tualatin River or the Willamette River
• Try a hip new coffee spot like Kafiex Roasters Coffee Lab, Presso Coffee Kitchen, Coava, Cathedral Coffee, Café Reina, or Albina Press
• Cool off at Diamond, Hagg or Crater Lake
• Drive through Wildlife Safari and see real animals from the wild from the comfort of your car. You can feed giraffes, pet an elephant's truck, feed the herbivores, etc. Pssst, sometimes there's a Groupon available online.
• Pet your favorite farm animal at Frog Pond Farm
• Float the Umpqua River, Sandy River, Deschutes River
• Start a new letterboxing or geocaching hobby
• Hunt for crawdads at a creek/river/lake near you. Other spots to check out: Tualatin River, Fanno Creek, Timothy Lake, Marshall Park, Washougal River
• Visit Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
• Take your kids fishing. Here are some fishing spot ideas for youth
• Paint pretty rocks and hide them in local parks/trails

Festivals

• June 19, La Pine Rhubarb Festival, La Pine OR
• June 26, Willamette Flea Market, Portland OR
• June 27, Portland Summer Makers Market, Portland OR
• June 30-July 4, St. Paul Rodeo, St. Paul OR
• July 2-4, Lincoln County Fair, Newport OR
• July 2-5, Portland Waterfront Blues Festival, Portland OR
• July 4, Independence Day at Fort Vancouver
• July 8-10, Philomath Frolic and Rodeo, Philomath OR
• July 9, The Big Float, Tom McCall Park, Portland OR
• July 9-10, Canby Junk Market, Canby OR
• July 11, Portland Everything Plants Pop-Up Market, Portland OR
• July 16-18, Westside Shakespeare Festival, Beaverton OR
• July 17-18, Bohemia Mining Days, Cottage Grove OR
• July 17, Gresham Arts Festival, Gresham OR
• July 18, Portland Summer Pop-Up Makers Market, Portland OR
• July 21-25, Lane County Fair, Eugene OR
• July 22-25, 4 Days of Aloha, Vancouver WA
• July 20-21, 27-28, Northwest String Summit, Virtual
• July 23-24, Estacada Summer Celebration, Estacada OR
• July 23-Aug 1, Washington County Fair, Hillsboro OR
• July 24-25, Great Oregon Summer Steam Up, Brooks OR
• Aug 6-7, Newport Quilts by the Sea, Newport OR
• Aug 7, Portland Bloody Mary Festival, Portland OR
• Aug 7, Vanport Jazz Festival, Portland OR
• Aug 11, Tillamook County Fair, Tillamook OR
• Aug 13, Sunriver Art Faire, Sunriver OR
• Aug 14, Salute to Veterans Car and Motorcycle Show, Hillsboro
• Aug 17-22, Clackamas County Fair and Rodeo, Canby OR
• Aug 21-22, Silverton Fine Arts Festival, Silverton OR
• Sept 11, Water Lantern Festival, Portland OR
• Sept 25-26, GeekCraft Expo, Oregon Convention Center, Portland OR