Since 1905, Portland families have spent summer days at Oaks Amusement Park, a leafy riverside midway in Sellwood run by a nonprofit association dedicated to keeping it affordable and classic. “The Oaks” is one of only a handful of century-old trolley parks left in America.
The midway mixes gentle kiddie rides with the looping Adrenaline Peak coaster, a 1910s carousel with hand-carved horses, and carnival games under the oaks. The park’s roller rink — one of the largest in the West, with a floating maple floor and a mighty Wurlitzer organ — has taught generations of Portlanders to skate.
Picnic grounds shaded by ancient oaks, Oaks Park’s fireworks over the Willamette and prices that still feel like a small-town fair: this is summer, Portland style.
