Pittock Mansion – Portland, Oregon
After getting to the Stone House, I started my hike to Pittock Mansion The distance and elevation described below are the walk from the Stone House to the Pittock Mansion. After the Pittock Mansion, we walked back the way we came back to the car. The total trip including walking back was 6.6 miles.
Distance: 2.0 Miles
Elevation Change: 800 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Leaving The Stone House
After exploring the Stone House and taking a break to enjoy the scenery, we continued on with our hike. Continue on the Wildwood Trail with the Stone House on our right and the Balch Creek on our left. After following along the creek for a while we can hear the water running next to us, which I personally love. After awhile the path turns left and we cross a small bridge to the other side of the creek. Continuing along the creek some and we came into some switchbacks. Follow these up and we ran into NW Cornell Rd. There is a small parking area here for an easier walk to either the Stone House (0.6 miles) or the Pittock Mansion (1.4 miles).
The Wildwood Trail walking towards Pittock Mansion!
Be careful crossing the road here as not all the cars will stop for you. Following the Wildwood Trail we were walking parallel to the road for about 0.5 miles. If there is a lot of traffic on the road you can hear the cars driving by as you’re walking. Parts of the forest are thin enough to see the road below as well as some bridges. Once we started getting to the switchbacks here the hike starts to get a little more difficult. The picture to the left shows the start of the steep hike. When we were hiking there was a couple behind us, both with a baby in a baby carrier, and they were catching up. I was extremely impressed! I also picked up my pace since I didn’t want to be out paced by a couple carrying their kids.
Arriving at Pittock Mansion
Following along the trail for a little bit longer and we came into a large opening with an information board. At the time there was a sign warning about owls in the area and how to protect yourself from them. The opening then opens into a paved parking lot. The lot was a decent size and gives you an option to drive to the mansion if you don’t want to take the hike. Take a left and we see the Pittock Mansion up a little bit. If you’re interested they have a gift shop and you can walk around inside the mansion. Tickets are $10 for adults, $11 during the holiday display.
Area around Pittock Mansion
The backside of the Pittock Mansion!
We declined to walk around inside the mansion and instead walked around to the back. Walking to the left side we saw some great views of the forest area where we were just walking. They have a nice pathway leading around back with rose bushes. The lawn and garden were well kept and there were people having picnics in the area.
The view of Portland from the Pittock Mansion.
We followed along the path and came to an area with the great view of Portland. There are a couple of picnic tables here where you can enjoy the view. As you can tell in the photo to the left it was foggy around Portland when we went so it wasn’t the best view. Even so, it was a nice view and well worth the hike.
Without going inside the Mansion there isn’t a whole lot to do around it. We walked around the building and looked inside some of the windows to get an idea of what we were missing. We then wrapped around the building and headed off down some stairs to the left were we saw the gate house. The gate house was where the family of the handyman lived. After exploring the area we stopped around the gift shop for a minute to check what they had. It was a small gift shop so didn’t take us much time.
The Walk Back
A nice poem stand in the neighborhood at during our walk to the Pittock Mansion.
After the gift shop we started the hike back to the car. Walking back was mostly down hill so definitely a lot easier than the walk to the mansion. We took the Wildwood Trail back so we could enjoy the same scenery before we left. While walking in the neighborhood we ran into this nice poem stand shown to the right. The top portion was labeled “A poem to share” and had a great poem. The bottom portion was labeled ” A poem for you” and had a poem on a piece of paper to take with you. I’m not sure how we missed it walking through the neighborhood the first time, but I’m glad we saw it on the return trip.
After we got back to the car, we went to Breakside Brewery for a great lunch.
Have you been to the mansion, explored inside the mansion, or on this hike before? Let me know in the comments below! Be sure to follow my social media accounts and sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date on my adventures!
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