Two-year-old Phoebe Johnson leads the way through Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Filled with tall trees and wide ambling paths, the park is a perfect place to seek out a dose of nature while visiting Portland.

Last week I left cool, crisp blue-skied Central Oregon to spend 10 days in soggy, wet, gray-skied Portland.

Or at least that was my assumption. Turns out, save for a few gray mornings, I didn’t encounter the stereotypical Willamette Valley weather much at all. Thanks to the weather, my 2-year-old daughter, Phoebe, and I managed to take full advantage of city life, including many parks and natural areas.

On one morning, I decided it was time to take in some nature. While Portland has its fair share of beautiful parks, as many cities do, it is also one of the few big cities I know of that also has plenty of accessible real, true-blue nature. Many nature seekers head to Forest Park for a good urban hike.

But another spot that I enjoy is Tryon Creek State Natural Area. This 658-acre state park is on the southern edge of Portland, on the border with Lake Oswego.

Before heading to the state park, we picked up an old friend and then drove to a nearby coffee shop because our buddy needed refueling.

Despite an earlier breakfast, Phoebe spotted her chance and claimed she was hungry and also needed a snack from the coffee shop. I agreed, assuming because this was Portland the shop would have something healthy on the menu. You know, some hemp granola or organic, gluten-free wheatberry crisps.

Instead, there was nothing on the menu but sugary muffins, scones and doughnuts. But once you’ve promised a snack to a 2-year-old, you must deliver (at least this is my experience). I opted to give my backseat goblin a so-called “yogurt blueberry muffin” (the word yogurt tricking me into believing it was the healthiest of bad choices). With hesitation, I handed the muffin to her. It looked eerily similar to a piece of cake.

Within 10 minutes, we had arrived at the park. Sugar coursed through my little one, and she was ready to run, run, run.

Although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend jacking a toddler up on cake before a hike, it did lead to a much more brisk hiking pace than I am used to when I bring her along. Instead of dragging her and cajoling her to keep moving, I was instead calling out for her to wait for us.

The park itself doesn’t offer any one spectacular landmark (no waterfall or rock formation). Instead it is an overall experience, not dissimilar to hiking in Shevlin Park.

Tryon Creek State Natural Area is all about the trees. The day we went, the leaves on the trees were nearly reaching their apex in terms of color — yellow, oranges and greens surrounded us. As wind blew, bits of leaves and pine needles whooshed down to the trail. Phoebe had fun racing around trying to catch the bits as they fell.

Many of the trees are simply massive. We were awed to look up and see just how tall they were.

We parked at the park’s nature center, off of Boones Ferry Road. From there, we stuck to a main trail loop. We didn’t need a map — the signs in the park are excellent, and we easily navigated our way through the many options of trails. Some of the paths are wide and wheelchair accessible, while others are small, dirt paths that wind and weave among the trees.

We crossed several bridges across creeks, including Tryon Creek. We spotted mushrooms growing in gigantic clumps (and had to hold Phoebe back from trying to stomp and/or gobble them).

After climbing up a fairly steep hill by herself, Phoebe finally wore off her cake energy and needed to be carried. But by that time, we had already traveled for about a mile (easily a record for her walking on her own). Within a half-mile we were back at the nature center.

It was a short walk, but a perfect dose of nature right in the midst of the city.

If you go

What: Tryon Creek State Natural Area

About: At 658 acres, includes numerous trail options through a dense forest.

Getting there: Located on the southern edge of Portland, can be accessed from Terwilliger Boulevard, off of U.S. Interstate 5.

Cost: Free

Contact: www.oregonstateparks.org