World Forestry Center in Portland

Went just a couple weeks after it had reopened and had never been there before. Walked in, and the first thing that caught my eye was the super tall tree right in the center that reaches up to the second floor. Tons of interesting exhibits. One of my favorites were the slices of old trees comparing the rings and the different ages. Learned a lot from all of the easy to read informational signage (a good portion were also written in Spanish side by side). There was a small theater playing short documentaries. The art exhibit was interesting and I hope to go back and visit again!

Slightly bizarre museum dedicate to the timber industry. Was a great place to cool down on a hot day. Young children will have a blast on the interactive exhibits, but leave ready to start cutting down trees. $5 admission and nearly empty on a July afternoon. Super friendly staff.

Family friendly and very informative. Great for people of all ages. Lots to see and explore for kids and adults

Fun stop to make if you and yours are exploring Washington Park. The old log train is great, and you can hop onboard and check out the “cockpit”

We had our wedding at the World Forestry Centers Miller Hall in September 2021. The venue was absolutely gorgeous, reasonably priced, and a great location. The staff (specifically Angieat WFC are so easy to work with. Angie was very accommodating with all of our questions and changes. We were so happy we chose the World Forestry Center for our wedding!

This place is so cool! My 7 year old loves it! Especially the giant train and the excavator. I hope they are able to make a way to open back up soon 🙂

An absolutely amazing facility with many hands on displays and interactive areas. Very informative and fun! Would highly recommend! Great for all ages.

We love the place. Very clean , well spaced. We came to volunteer for the Tea Festival. Lots of fun. Of course the parking is quite a challenge. It is locared in the Zoo so 2 in 1. If bringing the family plus events. Great venue for big events. Family friendly mini hikes.

I was hoping this was going to be about forest ecology and conservation but instead it was all propaganda for the logging industry in the form of educational exhibits geared towards children. For example: an arcade-game-like-simulator of a logging harvester machine (that was broken), a display equating timber plantations to old-growth forests, and an exhibit on the different types of forest management techniques such as clearcutting - a perfectly reasonable practice, if you are to believe the description in the exhibit. Finally, I knew the place had to be bank-rolled by the logging industry when I went upstairs and found a bougie library of maybe 100 or more multi-paragraph biographies of logging company CEOs. Listen, Im not saying the timber industry is evil, its not. But this building is presenting biased information on behalf of an industry that is at odds with the natural world - a world which is on the brink of a mass extinctionevent due to human activities. And logging ranks pretty high up on that list of activities.

Under-rated Portland museum. I take young grandkids here, one at a time, because there are relatively few visitors so you can have a quiet adventure with a lot of talk and play. The exhibits are quite good, actually, and there is enough physical stuff to please the youngest children (trains, logging equipment, 4WDs, animal puppets, river raft, outdoor waterfall...)

This is a fantastic educational resource for children and families ! As an adult I found it a bit dull, only because I didn’t realize it’s geared towards children. The museum is a broad overview of forestry, with great emphasis on types of forests around the world, the basic structure of a forest, and a history of the logging industry in Oregon. There is also a big emphasis on sustainability in logging which is great. Lots of interactive exhibits that kids will find exciting, and lots of illustrative exhibits. I’d say kids from 6 to 12 would probably enjoy this place most. I would pair this museum with a walk in the arboretum for some for a hands-on experience! Take the MAX, it’s steps away from the Washington Park station!

Loved this place...... just excellent for kids and adults... Affordable and parking I think was cheaper to the left than right of area... could spend 3 hrs here. But we spent closer to 2.

Really enjoyed this museum, and how interactive it was. The grounds around it are great enough for a walk as well, if you happen to be out of towners as well.My partner and I especially liked the animal prints and the facts about how they affected their environment.I also loved that they focused throughout of different cultures and their forestry, and you can "visit" Africa, China, Russia, and the Amazon through different play areas.Great for all ages! We are 28, have no kids, and had a blast.

They had some pretty cool exhibit that werent completely catered to kids. This was a nice change of pace from normal science museums because this was more in depth. They had a really cool petrified wood collection. This museum was definitely worth the visit and admission price. I dont know how often if at all they change exhibits, but I would go back regardless. You could spend 2- 3 hours here reading everything.

This was a very cool find. While it is geared for school aged kids, I stilled learned a few things. Its pretty small so if you were short on time you could be done in under an hour.

This was initially a pit stop during a road trip and turned out to be a wonderful surprise. The exhibits were engaging and interesting and facility clean and well maintained. Overall, a fun and worth while stop.

Annual mycological society meeting. Got some awesome information and a mushroom log. Would be nice to have a bike rack.

Great meeting & event space! Happy hour in museum is the best!

Quite informative centre, however, definitely geared more towards school groups and school age than adults. Could do with a little upgrading but still very much worth a visit to spend a few hours in.

Went to view the Sitka art exhibit. Hadnt been back up into the buildings, usually just went to the zoo. Parking was easy, and the buildings were cute and well maintained.

Its a forest museum with interactive exhibits like those found at OMSI. About 90 minutes to complete. Combine with visit to zoo or childrens museum, or just the zoo restaurant and gift shop (and mountain goatwhich you can visit without zoo admission.

Great especially for school groups, and also fun and informative for adult visitors. Located in an area with many more things to see, and easy to visit via public transit.

Attended a wedding and reception here. Just beautiful! Will be back to see more if tnis beautiful area. The grounds look absolutely amazing! Well maintained and VERY clean.

A wonderful and memorable place for those who have interests within earth sciences, the environment & nature in general. I went here for two different field trips, and intended to go again asap (its literally been over a decade since I last went now). I actually remember prior to them putting this center in up here, along with the Childrens Museum. Both epic additions for sure. This is a great place for anyone & everyone to self-educate via all the exhibits and information they have there for all to interact with, engage with & read.

Good place to learn forestry for kids and adult. Many different interactive display panels to understand our relationship with forest and connect visitors to nature. It takes around 1.5 to 2 hours in there.

Great two story museum dedicated to forests and wood. Lots of interactive exhibits. Quite a few short movies to watch and learn about different forests all over the world. Love coming here!!

This place is SO underrated! My daughters love coming here and I am humbled everytime. Plus zero crowd compared to the Zoo which is in same parking lot.

A lot of interactive exhibits are out of order

A cool place if you like museums and forests! The front desk people were very nice. Its small but there is a lot of interesting and hands on stuff packed in. It was a great, un-crowded option for us to take our 9 month old.

I am lucky enough to be invited to some amazing conferences and events at the Miller hall of the Forestry center. Its beautiful. Nestled in between the zoo and the Hoyt Arboretum, it has an amazing discovery center for all to enjoy. It sparks the imagination and creativity of any who enter. Plenty to see and do while parked only feet away! I highly suggest going once, twice, or dozens of times!!

We went with a field trip and lots of kids. It was ok for the older kids and more mature people. The younger kids lost interest. However for the forestry center its a really cool place. By far the favorite was the antique train. Its set up so you can climb up and explore the train. They also liked the elevator. If you are visiting the Portland area this is a neat place to spend the afternoon.

Outstanding!. Cost of admission is about $7 for adults, free for toddlers <2. There is a cool forestry tree cutter simulator machine and game inside. There is a tone to learn about forestry, wood, wood materials, architecture and construction. There are also many interactive, closed-play, educational, activities. Sparking a kids imagination about forestry will require adult intervention, but the tools are there. Great place to bring kids, our 13mo old was into for sure, but older kids seemed to have fun too. Bathrooms have changing tables. Best of all aside from a tiny gift shop there is a sales feeling to the experience. Well worth the visit, will do again

Beautiful museum. Somewhat small but has a decent amount of info. Good for kids, will take less than two hours.

Small museum about forestry and some cultural information. Interactive exhibits, but mostly video presentations. Inexpensive: $7 adults & $5 kids. There is senior pricing and free for tiny tots.

Nice enclosed space with cool things to look at. A big train just outside you can stand in, a large tree harvester you can sit in, a simulated atv ride (video screen), and other fun activities for littles to enjoy.

A beautiful little museum! Its full of great information on all things forest and forestry. Appropriate for both kids and adults. Interactive exhibits and gorgeous wooden building. You could probably spend 1-2 hours here and get plenty out of it, or you could pay the full day parking rate and explore all of Washington Park. Theres a cafe across the street by the zoo that you do not need zoo admission to eat at.

Really nice building, but the exhibits are lacking. We took a handful of our kids from daycare here and there just wasnt enough to do. Its too bad because theres so much potential here. But the kids loved how the place looked.

Great place to visit with the family, fun for all ages. Plenty of exhibits and activities to keep you busy. My three year old loved "planting trees" and climing on the giant logging tractor, and my wife and I even learned some interesting facts about the forest.

Neat place. Forestry/logging simulation was worn out and not working correctly so that was a disappointment. Enjoyed it more than I had though. Good information and a learning opportunity. Doesnt look like exhibits change much so after youve seen it once ......

One of the best places to explore Oregons nature. Near the zoo and a must see! I highly recommend a visit and for those that embrace mother nature; I think you will leave with a smile! Children will love this place!!!

Very interesting and interactive museum. Its fun for children. Could stay and be entertained 2-3 hours.

This place is fun the first and second time but after no renovation or updates for over a decade it is boring. I thought Id give it another go since my zoo membership got my family in for free but with no special exhibit on and everything the same as before we left shortly after arrival.

Many of the exhibits were closed. Not much for the preschooler to do. The parachute ride is gone. And the screen quality of the movies was horrible. Needs improvements BIG time. We brought kids from 16 to 3 and we were done with everything within one hour.

Beautiful facility that is surprisingly interesting for both older children and adults because of hands-on exhibits. Younger children (under ~6?might not understand the subject matter of many of the exhibits, but will still be entertained because of the hands-on nature.The parking situation is completely out of control. We had no interest in using the shuttle because it was bitter cold and we were formally dressed. After circling and circling, we finally found an open spot in front of the zoo entrance. The spots are so narrow that we had to let the passengers out before parking. There was only about 10 inches between cars. We have no idea how the people next to us were able to get into their cars and leave. We have an older car so we were OK with our doors getting banged up. My advice: Use lightrail to save yourself many headaches.

This is very educational. Went here back in the 70s, and took my daughters here when they were young. For anyone who wants to give an educational place a low rating, dont bother. It just means that your a gamer and cant enjoy the finer things in life.

When I arrived in Portland, I selected this center as my first itinery. This center has a lot of things for children to enjoy.

Fun museum with lots of opportunities for interactivity. I wish there was more of a giftshop! Heavy on videos, which are not the most effective way to convey information at a museum.

What a gem! My kids are under 5 and love this place! There is lots for them to do, its a great price, and never as crowded as the childrens museum or zoo. Would be great for older kids too, activities for all age levels.

Fascinating displays of the wonder of trees! The cross-sections of petrified wood were beautiful abstracts created by Mother Nature. True works of art.Trying to jump as a firefighter was challenging and fun. Brought home how difficult it is, and how courageous our fire jumpers are.My one complaint - there is a lift to see what is like to go to the treetops. I was saving the best for last, but it CLOSES at 4pm, 1 hour before the museum closes. That should be told to customers. All other hands-on parts are open till museum closing.I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone. Educational, informative and fun. Just what a learning experience should be

My son loves the outdoors and nature in general. So when we took him here, he loved all the different exhibits and things to learn about not only nature but how we as people interact both past and present.I wouldnt say this place is for everyone. But those that really love want to get in depth with the land around us and how man works with the land and not against it, the Foresty Museum does a good job.There is something here for both kids and adults. The parachuting simulator is pretty cool as you try and copy the precise jumping skills that forest workers have to make. Also, another cool simulator is the tree feller. You get to cut down a series of trees with the feller within a specific time frame.There are discount days so be sure to check their website for up to date information.