Ask an Adventure Leader: Mahin’s 6 Favorite Hammocking Spots in Portland
Ask an Adventure Leader is a writing series that gives our community an opportunity to learn from our Adventure Leaders’ collective experience, expertise, and deepest excitements. This week, Mahin (they/them) shares some of their best tips about hammocking — both to increase your enjoyment of the experience, and to be intentional about the ways we relate to our dear tree friends — followed by a delightful list of their favorite places to swing in their “portable porch swing.”
I’ve been with Wild Diversity as an Adventure Leader since April 2020. I first encountered the organization at a Pride event in June 2019, where a bunch of outdoorsy type organizations were tabling at Next Adventure. I was excited to meet Mercy and hear about Wild Diversity’s mission to create community with BIPOC & Queer folks connecting to nature together. I signed up for the Hoh Rainforest backpacking trip in September 2019 and had such a special, fantastic time, that I decided to become an Adventure Leader so I could support the organization’s mission and continue to build community. I’m super excited for the Autumn Colors Hike that I’ll be co-leading with Heather on September 24th along the Salmon River Trail. We’re going to have simple art supplies and a 5 mile or shorter hike to meander and enjoy all the beautiful colors around us. I love taking a slow pace and the time to connect with each other and the trees, plants, and rivers, and this hike will be another great opportunity to do so!
I started to really get into hanging out in my hammock last summer when I was itching for new ways to relax outside. Quarantine had me feeling very cooped up inside. Hammocks are like portable porch swings. As much as I love to be active and adventurous outside, I also love to rest and gaze up at the beautiful trees, swaying back and forth in my little cozy cocoon. We have so many fantastic parks right in the city and I love to explore them and try to find new spots to *hang* out in. I’ve had so much fun biking around town and taking my hammock with me to find these spots. I hope you’ll enjoy them and find even more!
But, first: Tips for Hammocking
Hammocking requires trees that are sturdy enough to hold your weight, a good distance from each other, and in comfortable and accessible locations. Trees are our friends! It’s important to find ones that are up to the task of holding you while you’re in your hammock. Find trees that are at least 6" in diameter, not too far away but not too close together, and alive and well. Keep in mind that if the trees are wider, you may need to find ones that are closer together since your straps are less likely to have much slack after you wrap them all the way around the tree. If the trees are too close together, you won’t be able to hang your hammock very tight. Be mindful of where you place the straps and take care to not damage the bark. Use 1"+ wide webbed nylon straps (may be sold separately from the hammock itself) and NOT rope as it can cut into the bark and hurt the tree. Remember that you’ll be putting a lot of weight on the straps once you get into the hammock.
If you’re curious about which trees you’re hammocking on, check out this Portland Tree Inventory Map created by Portland Parks & Recreation and see if you can find them!
Try hanging it loose and low, try tightening it up, try raising and lowering the straps on the trees. Generally aim for a 30 degree angle in the straps, but do whatever feels most comfortable to you. Make sure you won’t hit the ground when you get in, and that you’re not way too high that you can’t easily get in and out. Push the hammock down with your hands and full body weight before getting in, to make sure the straps settle and you have a good adjustment.
Bring an extra carabiner to hang your bag of snacks and stuff on the hammock straps for easy access. Or just keep your bag within reach on the ground so you don’t need to pile everything inside the hammock with you. Stuff inside the hammock tends to slip down to the bottom and can be annoying to find, so I like to keep my phone, water, and snacks outside the hammock within easy reach. Bonus points if your hammock has a built-in stuff sack pouch that doubles as a handy spot for smaller items.
These are 6 of my favorite spots in Portland parks where you can easily hang a hammock (see map). There are even a couple spots where you could hammock with a friend in two hammocks!
1. Overlook Park: Coming from N Interstate Ave, turn onto N Overlook Blvd, then onto N Melrose Dr. You’ll be at the tippy top of the park on the NW corner. Head down the hill about 20' and turn right into a little tucked away patch of trees. Hang your hammock on the two shrub-ish trees that are about 8' apart.
2. Irving Park: This spot is smack dab in the center of the park, just north of the bathroom building on two western red cedars. It’s pretty shady about 30' away from the paved path.
3. Alberta Park: Go into the off-leash dog park area on the east side of the park, just NW of the tennis courts. There’s a little dirt pathway and just off of it there are two Douglas firs a good distance apart for a hammock. Dogs might come up to you curiously, but it’s generally pretty quiet.
4. Fernhill Park: Hammock with a friend! There is a patch of birch trees where you can hang two hammocks on three of the trees, right by the top of a steep grassy hill, within an off-leash dog park. It tends to get pretty busy at peak times with dogs, who often come up to me while I’m in my hammock. Good mix of sun/shade depending on time of day.
5. Normandale Park: I tried several trees in this park and this was the only spot I found that would fit my hammock. It’s on the west end of the park between the parking lot and swing set on two Douglas fir trees. It has a good combo of sun/shade and would be a good spot to hang out while your kids/kid friends play nearby.
6. Laurelhurst Park: Another double (or triple!) hammock spot! Entering Laurelhurst Park from the north, by the bathrooms from the Ankeny St entrance, walk south along the path past the open field and picnic tables. Keep left and you’ll see a few incense cedars (they smell amazing!) bunched together off the small dirt path near the pond. Wild Diversity Adventure Leaders successfully hung three hammocks here in a triangle! One spot was pretty tight though and I had to twist my strap around one of the trees to effectively increase the distance between attachment points… I think it may have sloughed off more bark than I intended. I don’t recommend this method.
Remember to be kind to our tree friends so they may continue to support our restful enjoyment of the outdoors. Happy hammocking!
