Tours & Rentals: Getting Around Portland

Portland has more than 300 miles (483 km) of bike lanes, paths and low-traffic streets designated as "bike boulevards," making cycling one of the best ways to see the city. Many of these bikeways run right through the heart of downtown and past popular attractions, shops and restaurants.

For guided tours, two outfitters have you covered. Portland Bicycle Tours rides around the bridges, breweries and parks of Portland; Pedal Bike Tours stretches farther afield, with downtown tours, coffee- and volcano-themed jaunts, and trips that explore the nearby wine country and the Columbia River Gorge. Both companies also provide custom-designed tours.

Or, rent a bike and explore on your own. Necessary accessories — including a pump, a helmet, suggested routes and a bike bag — are included. Bike maps are also available at the Travel Portland Information Center in downtown's Pioneer Courthouse Square. And you'll find cyclist-submitted tours at Ride Oregon Ride.

Green signs and painted road symbols designate the most popular bikeways in Portland, including the downtown Waterfront Loop. This circular, three-mile (5 km) route hugs both sides of the Willamette River, crossing over the Steel and Hawthorne bridges, both of which are extremely bike-friendly. Well-marked signs along this loop lead to easily bikeable neighborhoods, as well as to the popular Springwater Corridor Trail.

Mountain bikers will find an ample network of cool trails in Forest Park, a 5,157-acre (2,087 hectares) urban wilderness just 10 minutes from the city center. At the Fat Tire Farm bike shop, located near the park's Northwest Thurman Street trailhead, visitors can rent both trail and street bikes.