Gabriel Park

Gabriel is one of those rare city parks that has something for everyone. There are sports facilities (basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, volleyball), a skate park, off-​leash areas, community gardens, and even a wooded area with a creek.
With a community center in one corner, it’s hard to imagine not being able to spend a whole summer day here, provided you pack in a lunch. One could go for a run or hike in the woods, stop and see the wild rabbits, cool off at the community center pool, and sit down to enjoy a little league game.
My only complaint would be the people who seem selfishly comfortable letting their dogs roam the park off-​leash. I often have to dodge turds left behind by presumptuous owners who never learned to pick up after themselves in kindergarten. On one occasion, I was lunged-​at by a large dog — but, no big deal, «she’s friendly.» Luckily the park rangers are on top of patrolling and giving out tickets for dogs on the lam.

This park has a lot to offer. It is huge, with sections that are separated from one another, each offering a different feel and activity. My favorite section of the park is the community garden/​dog park.

3 stars, what was I thinking? My love of Gabriel Park has grown by leaps and bounds since moving back to SW Portland. My husband and I spent many weekend mornings walking the paths of this fairly large park. Most of the paths are paved and carve through manicured lawns with some gentle hills, however there is a short portion that goes through a woodsy area. There is a large dog park, community gardens, a skate park, playground and tennis courts. Not to mention is is right next to the Southwest Community Center. No, it doesn’t have lots of hiking paths or beautiful flowers, but this is still the perfect neighborhood park.

As a kid my friends and I would stroll up to the park and play all day in the summer months. This part used to be an old landfill, but I never knew it as that. It had alway been Gabriel Park.
All the kids I went to school with used to come here. Had all the swing set play equipment you would expect in a park however they removed the teeter totter and the merry go round. I figured those were probably what was considered ‘the most dangerous’ to the kids. Heck I know I fell off many MANY times getting scraped up. but I never cared. Kids rebound quickly from cuts and scrapes.
The park hasn’t changed any outside of that. They still have the baseball fields, the tennis and basketball courts. They build a community center long ago down on Vermont and 45^th long before I left Portland and only went in once. I guess it wasn’t a big deal to me.
I didn’t drive up to Little Gabriel beyond the trees, but I assume that hasn’t changed either.
I used to be part of the Portland Track Club (PTC) way back when and this is the park we did our training in besides Tryon Creek State Park or Forest Park. We had a meet here as well.
There used to be a craft activity area where we could buy gimp and make keychains out of various colors.
Used to climb the cherry trees that used to line the entry area towards the parking lot. I don’t know if they bare fruit anymore.
I distinctly remember getting stung by a bee here and used to participate the summer slip n slide provided by Portland Parks and Recreation. All the kids had a blast.
Rare good childhood memories.

Best park in SW. +92 acre of park hosting tennis courts, playgrounds, community gardens, basketball, baseball field and more. Has TWO parks for dog, one winter park and one summer park. Great for family picnics and a close stroll to Multnomah Village for drinks or dinner.

This is my Son’s neighborhood park and at 90+ acres, it’s relatively huge. It has plenty of space to walk around in it’s nicely wooded expanse, and has the other stuff that folks like including a baseball field, basketball court, tennis, picnic areas, and an off-​leash area for Fido.

60+ Acres of fun in SW Portland including dog park, skate park, trails for hiking or mountain biking, play structures, basketball courts, rolling grass hills and a great place for picnics, The home of SW. Community Ctr. and much more! In the summer they put on activities including movies in the park. Love this park!

This is my neighborhood park so that could make me a little biased. The dog park is good sized and shifts from one end of the park to the other depending on the season. There is are a couple of baseball parks, basketball court, newly resurfaced tennis courts, volleyball, skate park, wooded trails, and a small children’s play area. Near SW Vermont, there are several tables for picnics and multiple paved trails. Co-​located with the Southwest community center, we have found many things to do with our little one. A laughing planet and a sunny’s yogurt are walking distance and are a frequent part of our park loop. Parking is available on the street or in a couple of small lots.

I love walking through here when I come to portland to visit! It’s so green and beautiful and the gardens are great! I love Portland and their beautiful parks.

This park is HUGE and has everything in it. Basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball, jungle gyms, a skate park and an off-​leash dog area!!! And it’s all spread out so they’re not all on top of each other. Well maintained. Lots of parking. Great walking paths.
Of note — if you’re outside of the off-​leash dog park your dog must be leashed and the rangers keep an eye out. It’s a big fine if your dog is off leash around the main park.
Anyway, we were here on a sunny, Saturday afternoon and there weren’t a lot of people here. We had fun walking around, exploring and playing on the swings. Very cool park!

Dog Park, Community Garden, beautiful trails, sports fields, huge trees, shade and sunshine at every turn– it’s just great. Get lost in the woods and find your own way out, there’s so many openings its always an adventure. I suggest jogging, trekking the opposite side– not where the big entrance sign is and the skate park and such– head around to the side just behind Multnomah Village because that’s where the real beauty is!

Beautiful park. A real jewel in the city.

This is only a review of the play structure area off SW Vermont (not sure if there are others).
The play area looks like it could have been nice at one point however it hasn’t been maintained. There are two swings, one of them baby friendly and a tire swing. Then there is on small play structure with two small slides. In the back corner is a landing where a double slide used to be but is no longer there.
Overall it isn’t a great park for children.
Again this is not about the park a whole just the play area.

This is by far my favorite park on the west side.
It is conveniently located and has some great trails, a dog park, a skate park, tennis courts, and so on and so forth.
I love coming here on a nice sunny day. It is beautiful.

Gabriel Park is pretty awesome. I run here one to several times a week. There is a decent-​sized wooded area with some dirt trails. Also, there is a large paved path that meanders around the outside of the park. There are enough trails that you can run a few laps on different trails before getting bored of seeing the same scenery. Generally, the park is not too crowded, but I can only speak for the running paths.
There are two reasons I rated this four stars instead of five. The first reason is because the outside trail is paved. It would be much nicer if this was instead dirt or sawdust. The main reason is the inconsiderate dog owners. Dog owners don’t like to put their animals on a leash here at Gabe. Most of the time it isn’t a big deal, but sometimes these dogs are aggressive and chew on me while I am running. Not cool.
Overall, the park is awesome, considering the fact that it is in the middle of town but has it’s downsides (probably originating from the fact that this park is in the middle of town).

I’m a fan because it’s so large, mostly.
I will say that the dog ares are not that great — either horribly water logged, or incredibly spotty and unclean. I get it, it’s a dog area. Pick up the poop though, mow down the weeds. Please.
It is nice to come just to sit on a hill and people watch. They always have some pick up basketball games to watch, baseball, or the kids playing on the structure. It’s a great family area, with wonderful walking paths. Really big, too, so you can find your favorite corner to have a picnic without being bothered much.

Decided to try out Gabriel today after hearing great things about the dog park. We will NOT be back.
First, there’s no signs pointing toward the dog park so after finding a parking lot we just wandered until I saw someone else with a dog then I followed them. Once we got there we had to wait for some guy inside the gate to finish whatever he was doing because he was blocking the entry. Don’t worry guy, no need to hurry. We’ll just stand here while you take your sweet ass time. My dog loves to wait on the outside while watching the other dogs play.
We finally got in, I let the pup go then looked around for a place to sit. Out of the two picnic tables one was already taken, the other was covered in bugs. A couple bugs I don’t mind, but we’re talking COVERED. After flicking several of them off of me (hadn’t even sat down, just got close to the table) I decided I’d try somewhere else. I tried sitting on the ground but the smell of urine was overpowering so that didn’t work out. There are a few crappy old plastic chairs by the entrance so after passing several that had drinks or food spilled on them I finally found one without sticky residue.
So I sat watching my dog, who is incredibly friendly and normally loves playing at the dog park. She wandered around trying to make friends but ran into several aggressive dogs so she eventually just found a shady spot and laid down. I decided this wasn’t the park for us.
Have I mentioned the huge amounts of dog poop left all over the ground? If not here’s the time. While calling my dog a woman came in with her dog (large breed). Her dog ran over to me and immediately jumped on me. The woman stood about 20 feet away and just watched. Seriously? You just stand by and watch while your dog continues jumping on me over and over as I try to push him off? That’s just great. The last straw was when the dog eventually pushed me into a pile of dog poop, which felt great on my feet since I was wearing flip flops. I shot the lady a dirty look, pushed her dog off me AGAIN and did my best to get the poop off (there’s no bathroom or running water, so I was stuck until I got out of the dog area and finally found a water fountain).
I maneuvered around many more piles of dog crap to get my pup and made a beeline for the exit.
Maybe I’m just spoiled by Hazelia and the other dog parks we’ve been to, but I don’t find anything alluring about this place except that it’s fenced (the only reason it’s getting 2 stars rather than 1). The people were not very friendly, they obviously did not feel the need to clean up after their animals or control their dog’s manners in any way, there’s hardly anywhere to sit, and honestly I didn’t find the setting to be very nice at all.
I guess if you live very close by and have absolutely no way of getting to another dog park then it’s a place to go, but I’d rather drive pretty much anywhere than go back to this place. Big thumbs DOWN. We will never, ever be coming back here.

What a great park! Thanks to Unilocal for helping me find this place. Bookmarked at some point in the past, I was recently re-​reminded of this park when another review was posted. It’s not very convenient for me, but I drove out there to give it a try all the same. I’m really glad I did.
The park is huge and I could find no maps posted at the park, so you might want to orient yourself before heading in. Their playgrounds were hopping with children, so I can’t really comment on them. Although they did look fun. The skate park was hopping with… well, mostly roller bladers. They also looked like they were having a good time, and it’s easy to imagine why.
What I enjoyed was their many trails through their wetland forest. What a great bit of hiking in a natural setting. The wetlands are quiet and peaceful, with no traffic noise and the occasional gurgling sound from a modest creek. While there aren’t exactly amazing views, it’s very real and took me back to being a teenager hanging out in «the forest» after school. Back in the day when wetlands didn’t have to be protected.
There are a lot of other great things about Gabriel park. There are lighted tennis courts, several baseball diamonds, and a great hilly setting that provides for lots of surprises and a nice compartmentalized feel. It’s almost like five parks set up in a big square. Too bad it’s such a drive.

(Like Vi B., this is just a review of the dog park.)
Not too big, not too small, this fenced dog park is clean and certainly worth a trip with your little ones… during the spring/​summer at least. The main grassy area is closed during the winter (which is why I gave them 4 stars), but they open up a bark/​mud park just around the corner so your dog can burn off some energy from being pent up most of the winter. I personally, only like the main grassy area, but my dog enjoys any place where he can run and play.
The park has poop bags, running water, benches/​chairs and it’s partially shaded for those hot summer days. It has a nice hill for the dogs to run up and down instead of the more common, flat, city parks. One thing that some may not like is that the park is a single space so there is no separate area for small/​timid dogs. However, I have a little dog (who thinks he’s a Great Dane) and he has always done well at this park.
Gabriel Park is also just minutes away from Healthy Pets NW which has a great selection of natural pet supplies and it’s also just a block from the dog-​friendly Laughing Planet Café where you can dine outside with your dogs. Enough fun for a whole afternoon!

Note: This review is for the dog park portion of the park ONLY; not the tennis courts or walking/​hiking area.
If you (and your lucky pooch) are in the mood to romp (and be romped), go to the ‘Gabe.
Here’s a pointer: Small dog owners should take caution. For the most part, the dogs that come here are medium to big sized, and there is no «small/​tiny dogs» gated area separating them from the big dogs (an amenity I’ve seen at a few dog parks in Hillsboro).
That means: Its a doggy free-​for-​all in huge open spaced fields. The bigger, more rambunctious dogs tend to head STRAIGHT for the smaller dogs so that they can wrestle with them. And unless your dog is a JRT (who are crazy as hell and can hold their own against dogs 8 times their size), you should either be prepared to: sit by yourself with your dog in some remote area of the park, or: go bananas every 3 ½ minutes when some lab/​pitbull mix comes rambling over and knocking your sweet powderpuff into the bushes.
I do wish there was an enclosed area for smaller (and gentler) doggies.
In the meantime: Big & Rough Dog Owners: Rejoice!