Portland

The Portland region covers the western suburbs and Columbia County to the north, the metro-suburban country running from the Hillsboro tech corridor northwest through the Tualatin Valley and along the Columbia River. The terrain is gently rolling — the Tualatin Valley’s agricultural floor flanked by the Tualatin Mountains and the Coast Range foothills, the Columbia River bottomland in Columbia County. The city of Portland itself sits in Multnomah County to the east in the Willamette Valley region. Two counties cover the region. Washington County holds Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, and Forest Grove (with Pacific University) — the heart of the Silicon Forest tech corridor; Columbia County holds St. Helens and Scappoose along the Columbia River. Henry Hagg Lake and the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge anchor the public-land draws; the Sauvie Island agricultural area and the Columbia River corridor handle the western edge. Most trips here run as suburban-and-agricultural extensions of Portland. Hillsboro’s tech and farmers’-market scene, Beaverton’s restaurant district, the Tualatin Valley wineries (a smaller cluster than the more famous Yamhill or Willamette wineries), and the Sauvie Island u-pick farms fill weekend visits. St. Helens runs a Halloween-themed tourism stretch each October built around the Spirit of Halloweentown festival.