Japanese Garden Trail
Not a free back door to the Japanese Garden — a short, steep link that stitches the Washington Park loop.
On this trailBefore you go
Before you go
A word for families, since this one’s tagged for you on the strength of the loop, not this segment’s footing: the lower switchbacks and steps are no place for a stroller, and the trail isn’t fully accessible. Bring the kids who can handle stairs and leave the wheels down at the Rose Garden. Save it for a clear day if you want the Mt. Hood view — that glimpse is the whole reason to take this direction — and for the drier months, when those lower steps aren’t slick. Come down from the Wildwood junction west of the garden and you’ll get the view first and the workout last, which is the right order to meet a short trail that saves its plainest stretch for the middle.
Getting there
One way · from The Wildwood Trail junction west of the Portland Japanese Garden
- Start
- The Wildwood Trail junction west of the Portland Japanese Garden, where a marked spur branches off and drops toward the garden — start here and you get the view first, the climb-down last
- Orientation
- Up in Washington Park, on the Japanese Garden side of the hill — the landmark cluster with the Rose Test Garden and the arboretum, not the Balch Creek canyon most first-timers picture
- Parking
- Parking near the Japanese Garden is very limited — a reservoir project erased more than a hundred nearby spaces, so the garden itself steers visitors onto transit. Don't build a plan around finding a stall here
- Ends at
- Pops out on SW Kingston Avenue near the tennis courts, a short walk from the International Rose Test Garden and Queen's Walk. Loop back up through the Rose Garden or reverse the climb the way you came
- Transit
- Ride MAX to the Washington Park / Zoo station, then hop the Explore Washington Park shuttle (roughly every 15 minutes, April–October) up to the garden area — far less friction than hunting for parking
- Accessibility
- Not stroller-friendly and not fully accessible — the lower end descends steep switchbacks and flights of steps, with no paved segment
- Dogs
- leashed
- Best
- clear days for the Mt. Hood view over the garden, and the drier months so the lower steps aren't slippery; walk it in daylight
Keep going
Plan a route from hereAdditional resources
- Portland Japanese Garden — Planning Your VisitOfficial visit planning: the shuttle, the parking crunch, why to leave the car behind.