East Portland Countryside
The East Portland countryside is alot different than the west side. The west side is the Willamette Valley, amazing farmland, rolling hills, wide valleys, and then the foothills of the coast range. The east countryside is in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, so is more rugged and rocky, with small craggy valleys, ridges, and lots of forest.
The east countryside includes the open forest and farmland that is just east and south of the east suburbs, little towns like Estacada, Corbett, Damascus, Boring, Mulino and Molalla. Some are in the foothills themselves, like Corbett, Damascus and Boring, while some areas are more flat with more pasture and farmland, along a river valley, like Molalla. As you get further south, the land begins to change, because instead of the foothills, you are beginning to enter the Willamette Valley and it’s tributaries.
It is known as the Gateway to the Clackamas River, is more country than town, has lots of forest and rolling farmland with small valleys. It is a rustic area, not gentrified like much of Portland, and is less expensive if you are looking for either a little bit of land, or a more reasonable priced home! The Clackamas River runs right through it, and creeks are everywhere! Read More…
Corbett is a little town east of Troutdale, between the Sandy River and Crown Point on the Columbia River Historic Highway. It is right at the mouth of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, perched above the Gorge on the winding curves that give breathtaking views at every turn, or surprise you with waterfalls where you don’t expect them! It is about twenty miles east of Portland,East Portland countryside on I 84, along the way to Hood River. Read More…
Damascus is a suburb of east Portland, and is a mostly rural community, although newer neighborhoods are being built and added all the time. It feels like you are way out in the country! It is on the way to Mt Hood, surrounded by Boring, Barton, Orient and Happy Valley! The southern part is on the Clackamas River, with all the amenities the river has, and it is not too far from Clackamas with all the shopping malls etc. But it definitely feels rural. Read More…
The East Portland countryside consists of all the towns that are south and east of the suburbs that I have covered already in this guide. These are little towns, mostly just unincorporated communities that live in the forests and farmland that dots the lower Cascade foothills east and south of Portland. Each town is a little bit different, but basically the areas are the same, based around a river, settled in the 1800s by people who wanted to farm the land or log the land. And now inhabited by people that love to be away from the hustle and bustle, who want the quiet and serenity of the forest and isolated farmlands around. I have chosen 4 little towns to do a little article about. Read More…