South Park Blocks
South Park Blocks
4
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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Top ways to experience South Park Blocks
The area
Address
Neighborhood: Pearl
How to get there
- Union Station • 10 min walk
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Best nearby
Restaurants
1,898 within 5 kms
Attractions
594 within 10 kms
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.0
23 reviews
Excellent
5
Very good
12
Average
2
Poor
4
Terrible
0
Jeremy C
Atlanta, GA950 contributions
Aug 2023
This is a pretty park between Pioneer Courthouse square and the PSU Farmers Market. So, definitely na pretty place to walk between these locations. However, we were turned off by the number of homeless people in the park, some of whom were very noisy.
Written August 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
booradley2
san diego213 contributions
The South Park Blocks aren't a tourist attraction in the strictest sense, but they're one of the parts of Portland that I remember most fondly. The park itself is pretty much just a standard city park: grass, trees, flowers,benches, a statue or two. It was the park's entire setting, the overall milieu, so to speak-----geez, this sounds pretentious-----that charmed me. The park is only one block wide and about six blocks long. Along it's lengthwise sides it's lined with a number of handsome old apartment buildings, as well as churches, a museum and I-don't-remember-what-all. (It's been a while since I was there.) It kind of reminded me of New York's Central Park, but in miniature. A bit of (carefully tended) nature in the heart ot the city. There are coffeehouses, cafes and small stores located on the ground floor of a number of the apartment houses, giving the streets a certain vitality. Maybe it's a better neighborhood for living than for visiting. I guess I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but if you're in downtown Portland there's a good chance you'll be passing through it anyway. You might want to linger for a bit.
Written July 27, 2006
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gary K
Portland, OR91 contributions
Jun 2012
I live two blocks from the South Park Blocks which stretch from Portland State University on the south to Salmon Street -- about 8 or 9 blocks. The Portland Art Museum, the Schnitzer Concert Hall, the Oregon Historical Society and the Performing Arts Center are all bordering these wonderful, shady blocks. I use the park blocks daily.
Written June 5, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MenciusSchmencius
Portland, OR39 contributions
Dec 2019
In reviewing Tanner Springs Park (5 stars), I mentioned the fact that most parks are anti-nature. The South Park Blocks is a prime example of a park with an anti-nature orientation. Except for a small area with native plants, the park is block after block of desolate, lifeless mud flats, interspersed with trees. The intention is to have lawns around the trees, but grass doesn't grow under the trees due to the shade. Nature wants to grow a forest with a diverse understory, but the parks people keep fighting her to grow grass. So instead of letting the dropped leaves and twigs build up a healthy soil community, they remove all the organic matter. The result is desolation instead of a biodiverse community of native plants and associated insects , worms, arthropods, and birds. Considering the fact that all animals and insects are fast disappearing due to loss of habitat, shouldn't a progressive city such as Portland change its ways to support and regenerate habitat for our non-human relations? It would help ourselves as well, given the strong evidence that encounters with biodiversity support human health and flourishing.
Written December 19, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ThomasTCat
St. Louis, MO781 contributions
Sep 2016 • Couples
We were told that this area was a great place to see beautiful, Victorian style homes so we took the MAX and ventured downtown. Boy, were we ever mislead! Homeless people everywhere we looked. Yes, there were some beautiful statues, but we couldn't walk into the parks because there were literally homeless people camped out and sleeping practically on top of each other. There would have been nowhere to walk even if we wanted to. Portland State University is in this area, but when we did pass the college students, they were always jogging in groups. It's not an area where you would want to venture out alone. We walked the entire South Park Blocks wondering when we were going to find all the beautiful homes that we were told about, but we beat a hasty retreat out of that area before it started to get dark and never did find those houses.
Written September 29, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Enhan
Singapore310 contributions
Aug 2016 • Solo
I enjoy parks. Parks are supposed to be safe, peaceful and allows people to rest and enjoy the scenery. But not South Park Blocks. They are far too many homeless people loitering around this park and it needs to be maintained.
Written August 28, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
minimize940314
Los Angeles, CA3,543 contributions
Feb 2023
An average park you will pass by if you are checking in and out of some of the museum in Portland. It did not look entirely safe due to some homeless people
Written August 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dan W
Portland, OR1,932 contributions
Jun 2019
Lined with magnificent churches, historic apartments, the Portland Art Museum, Portland State University,and a few retail stores, the South Park Blocks are really beautiful all seasons of the year. It is a long but narrow span of great trees and places to sit for enjoying people watching and enjoying a slice of nature in an urban setting. anyone visiting Portland is sure to enjoy a stop here. It is also home to this Saturday’s farmers market!
Written June 3, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
adalbert3
Newport Beach, CA4,987 contributions
Jul 2018 • Solo
Nice place for a quiet stroll or a location for some relaxed reading. This tree covered slice of Portland borders the art museum and is close to the Concert Hall. There are statues of Teddy Roosevelt, Rough Rider and Abraham Lincoln. In addition, one can take in the "Brushstrokes" sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein outside the art museum as you walk through the trees. The First Congregational Church borders the park---it has interesting architecture. It was very quiet and empty the Sunday afternoon when I visited---which made it all the more attractive.
Written August 11, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Linda D
Portland, ME2,508 contributions
May 2018 • Couples
Nice small tree covering park with monuments. Portland seems to have a homeless problem.The homeless are abundant with tents and all.
Written May 7, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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