John Gottberg Anderson / For The Bulletin

PORTLAND — Families with children often struggle to find activities for their younger members on urban trips. Cities are not beaches, where sand and surf, strange seashells and colorful kites assure a memorable getaway. Cities are not mountains, where the excitement of living in a tent beneath tall trees and cooking meals on an open fire open the door to outdoor adventure. Cities are tall buildings and concrete, traffic jams and too many people.

But wait: All is not lost! If your destination is Portland, with a half-million residents Oregon’s largest city, there are scores of family-friendly activities. {%TravPortland-p04 020815%} Travel Portland, the city’s marketing agency, has published a list of “50 Things to Do With Your Kids Before They Grow Up,” and I’ve discovered a bunch of other things that didn’t even make that list!

Start with Washington Park. It’s easy to get lost for a full day in this 410-acre municipal oasis, among its rolling hills and towering firs. The Portland Japanese Garden is here, along with the International Rose Test Garden and the Hoyt Arboretum, among other attractions.

But for children, the best place to hang out is a relatively small section of the park near the Canyon Road entrance, on its southwestern edge — at the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Children’s Museum and the World Forestry Center Discovery Museum. {%TravPortland-p06 020815%}

After the zoo, nowhere in Portland is more welcoming to children and families than the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, best known by its acronym, OMSI. Sitting on the east bank of the Willamette River, the former Portland General Electric power plant has exhibit halls, physics and chemistry laboratories, a state-of-the-art planetarium and even its own submarine. The USS Blueback, a retired U.S. Navy vessel, is on permanent display outside.

Back across the river, downtown Portland has Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park and plenty of family-friendly displays in the Oregon History Museum. The sleek Portland Aerial Tram is nearby. And there are dozens of kid-friendly shops and restaurants all over the city, from bookstores and toy stores to ice cream shops and candy stores, plus an ample number of cafes and coffee shops with play areas that entertain the youngsters while their parents relax.

Washington Park

Kids of all ages love the Oregon Zoo, especially its elephants. The zoo is known around the world for its Asian elephant breeding program, beginning with its senior bull, Packy, born here in April 1962. He is one of eight resident pachyderms; the youngest, Lily, is 2. But at least for a few more months, the observation area for the great beasts is much diminished — that is, until the new Elephant Lands is completed. {%TravPortland-p08 020815%}

Soon, Packy and his companions will have 6 acres to explore, about four times their existing domain. The first portion will be ready in April, the remainder in the November. And it will, no doubt, enhance the viewing opportunities for visitors young and old alike. But in the meantime, there are plenty of other creatures in the 64-acre zoo — about 2,200 animals of 260 species, including 21 endangered and 33 threatened species.

Recently expanded is the Great Northwest division, featuring cougars, black bears, mountain goats, otters, bald eagles and a new enclosure for “Condors of the Columbia.” Five of the largest birds in North America have room to soar above a popular petting zoo. A polar bear enclosure is also being revamped in “Pacific Shores,” beside penguins and Steller sea lions. “Fragile Forests” is home to various species of primates, including the always popular orangutan; a family of lions and other “Predators of the Serengeti” are among many African denizens.

For observers of the human animal, the zoo is equally fascinating. Indeed, on many days, children outnumber the adults. Young parents push toddlers in strollers and hold babies in their arms. Somewhat older kids wave at a sleeping hippopotamus or playfully stick their heads into the jaws of a bronze lion. {%TravPortland-p05 020815%} Souvenir stands sell stuffed replicas of favorite creatures, and when hunger and thirst call, cafes can please nearly every taste. In summer and holiday periods, a miniature train winds through the heart of the zoo.

The youngest set, however, might be particularly at home in the Portland Children’s Museum, located across the parking lot from the Oregon Zoo. Here, activities are very much hands-on. Exhibits are designed to encourage imagination and problem solving, with simulations of such actions as grocery shopping, construction and driving, especially for the under-10 set.

“Water Works” is always a favorite attraction for preschoolers, who never seem to require a reason to get wet. Here, of course, it’s a controlled environment, with water-resistant jackets available to shield kids from the spray and bubbles. {%TravPortland-p02 020815%} The “Play It Again Theater” encourages play acting; the “Clay Studio” lets kids mold their own creations; the “Pet Hospital” helps them to understand animal care. There’s also a treehouse and a maze of hedges, a “Circus Zirkus” through May and a new “Outdoor Adventure” exhibit.

In the same area is the World Forestry Center. Its Discovery Museum teaches children — and their parents — a little something new about the natural environment of Oregon and the world. Kids can view the forest from the upper branches of a tree, go on a rafting adventure or a safari, and climb aboard an old logging train that is exhibited outside.

Along the river

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is better-suited than any other place in Portland to entertain adults, older children and toddlers. More than 200 interactive displays in five large exhibit halls give lessons in physics and chemistry, health and wellness, technology and engineering, renewable energy and global climate, and much more. {%TravPortland-p09 020815%}

In the Turbine Hall, visitors can experience an earthquake, program a robot or build a bridge. In the Life Hall, they can visualize human growth and development from early childhood to old age and learn about the use of modern technology in health care. In the Earth Hall, they view the planet in the remarkable “Science on a Sphere” exhibit and learn something about environmental hazards. Older children are guided through science-lab experiments by trained docents, while kids 6 and younger dabble in the hands-on Science Playground.

OMSI also has a state-of-the-art planetarium, movie theaters, an outstanding science store and much more, including camps and classes. New this week, and continuing through May 6, is an exhibit called “Mazes,” featuring 13 mazes with names such as the Music Maze, Puzzle Maze, Color Maze and Maze of Illusions.

And then there’s the USS Blueback, the last non-nuclear, fast-attack sub built by the U.S. Navy. It’s on permanent display here. It’s hard enough to wander through these tight quarters on a brief guided tour; the thought of being underwater with dozens of others for two months at a time can be oppressive.

Back across the Willamette, bordering downtown Portland, 36-acre Waterfront Park is home to perhaps the most popular kids’ attraction in the city: Salmon Street Springs. But this civic fountain is not turned on during the winter season. It’s only in warmer months that children may frolic through its dancing, ever-changing spurts of water, which recycle up to 4,900 gallons of water per minute, through 137 jets.

Concrete steps surround the plaza, allowing parents a view of their kids and the nearby river.

Toward the north end of the park, the Oregon Maritime Museum is housed aboard the historic sternwheeler Portland. Visitors may tour the engine room and the pilot house and listen to docents’ stories about Portland nautical history.

About 2 miles upriver, the $57 million Portland Aerial Tram not only provides commuter transportation from the South Waterfront district to the hilltop campus of Oregon Health & Science University, but it also has become a visitor attraction beloved by adults and children alike. {%TravPortland-p16 020815%} Climbing 500 feet in two-thirds of a mile, crossing high above Interstate 5 to an enclosed sky bridge at OHSU, the tramway offers spectacular clear-day views not only of the city, but also of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens in the distance. Its two cabs hold 79 passengers and require four minutes to make the ascent.

Families with an interest in state heritage can find excellent exhibits at the Oregon History Museum, opposite the Portland Art Museum in the South Park Blocks.

Operated by the Oregon Historical Society, this three-story archive traces the state’s evolution from the original Native Americans, through the era of exploration and pioneer settlement, to modern times. {%TravPortland-p11 020815%}

Performing arts

The children’s theater scene is booming in Portland, with four companies offering year-round entertainment.

Perhaps most notable is the Oregon Children’s Theater, which presents its productions in downtown Portland at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Currently playing (weekends through Feb. 15) is “Skippyjon Jones,” about a Siamese cat who thinks he’s a bird.

Three more shows are upcoming. “Timmy Failure” (Feb. 28 to March 22) follows the young president of a detective agency and his partner, a large polar bear, both of whom work out of his mother’s closet. “School House Rock Live!” (March 28 to April 26) introduces patrons to schoolteacher Tom, who accents his lessons with music as if it were Saturday morning television. Finally, “Ramona Quimby” (May 9 to 31) brings back the third grader from beloved Portland children’s author Beverly Cleary, still alive at the age of 98.

The OCT also has a Young Professionals Company that performs in the YP Studio Theater in northeast Portland. From April 10 to April 19, this company will be presenting “Columbinus,” a serious ensemble product that explores the events surrounding the 1999 massacre at a Colorado high school. It is recommended for ages 15 and older.

{%TravPortland-p15 020815%} The Northwest Children’s Theater has just launched “The Jungle Book,” which plays weekends through March 1 at its northwest Portland theater. The original adaption of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale of a boy raised by wild animals incorporates traditional Indian dance and a splash of Bollywood music. From April 25 to May 25, NWCT will present “The Little Mermaid,” a dance musical about a girl who longs for life above the waves.

Through Feb. 15, the Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre is presenting “Zen Shorts” with the Rogue Artist Ensemble of Los Angeles. From April 6-19, it will present two adaptations of Latin American plays, “When Animals Were People” from Mexico and “The Lazy Bee” from Argentina.

Finally, the Imago Theatre will offer its all-ages version of “Beauty and the Beast” in “Beautiful,” May 1 to 31. The company calls it “a vibrant, creative trip-hop opera based on the beloved fairy tale.”

Sleeping and dining

Where do families sleep most comfortably? The best, nearest hotel to Washington Park is the Hotel deLuxe, whose interior design focuses on the Golden Age of Hollywood: Displays on each floor are dedicated to famous actors, directors and filmmakers. To that end, it offers pop-up cinema classics in its lobby theater at least twice a month, room delivery of Portland’s own Salt & Straw ice cream and late-late brunches in Gracie’s restaurant. {%TravPortland-p14 020815%}

Portland’s MAX light-rail line runs right past the hotel, so visitors can hop on, hop off and find themselves at the Oregon Zoo in Washington Park with no parking issue.

Among other options, the best may be Hotel Monaco, whose queen deluxe rooms offer a separate living area (with a sofa bed) for kids. Youngsters get welcome gifts upon arrival, kid-sized bathrooms and juice and snacks when their parents sip wine or beer at happy hour. DVD players, bicycles and companion goldfish are available on request.

The Inn at Northrup Station has kitchenettes or full kitchens in every room, along with sleeper sofas and two flat-screen TVs. The northwest Portland hotel employs vivid colors and ’70s-style decor to give it a special character.

For dining options, a great website to check out is www.pdxkidscalendar.com, which recommends not only restaurants but also other child-friendly options throughout the city. Such places as Café au Play (on Southeast Division Street), the Pied Piper Play Cafe (in Westmoreland) and Playdate PDX (in northwest Portland) offer extensive food-and-drink menus that please both children and their parents.

Other restaurants, including Jam on Hawthorne, the Tin Shed and the Hobnob Grille, have adult menus as well as kids’ choices and play areas for children. With locations throughout the metropolitan area, Laughing Planet and Little Big Burger are also excellent options.

{%TravPortland-p13 020815%} The Northeast Alberta Street neighborhood is especially conducive to child visits. After a visit to the Tin Shed for breakfast, families can have ice cream at Salt & Straw, colorful “penny candy” (now sold by the ounce) from Candy Babel, then stop by Green Bean Books for three-times-a-week story hours. It’s a great way to keep the kids — and Mom and Dad — happy.

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com