Life in West Linn
Fall in West Linn: what to do this season
Fall Fest in the Forest, pumpkin patches, a vineyard right in town, and the parks at their most beautiful. A local's short list for October and November in West Linn.
Is the rain starting to make the weekends feel a little shorter? I get it. But fall might be the best season to really feel what West Linn is like, because it’s when the town turns toward its own backyard.
Here’s my short list for the next few weeks.
Fall Fest in the Forest, Saturday, October 17
If you do one thing this month, make it this. The city’s Fall Fest in the Forest is on Saturday, October 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mary S. Young Park, 19900 Willamette Drive.
There’s live music, a dog costume contest, trick-or-treat stations, mini pumpkin decorating, a skeleton scavenger hunt, carnival games and food vendors. It’s free to wander, the trees are turning, and you’ll run into half the neighbors you’ve been meaning to meet. Check the city’s event page for the exact contest times before you go.
Pumpkin patches and farm days
West Linn still has real farmland at its edges, and fall is when you notice it. A few places the West Linn Tidings rounded up last year:
- Triskelee Farm on SW Mountain Road in West Linn, with pumpkins, farm tours and a fall festival on weekends.
- Yesteryear Farms in the Stafford area, known for a 10-acre corn maze.
- The pumpkin patch on Stafford Road, which was free to visit.
- Hemphill Farms in Oregon City, open on October weekends.
A fair warning: those details come from last year’s schedules. Farms change their days and hours from season to season, so check each one before you load up the car.
A vineyard right in town
People are often surprised to learn there’s a working vineyard inside West Linn. Tumwater Vineyard, at 375 SW Barrel House Way, has a full fall calendar, including a hoedown on October 16, a chocolate truffle class on October 20, a charcuterie class on October 27 and a fall watercolor class on November 10.
Their listed hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5, and Sunday from noon to 5:30. It’s an easy, local way to spend a gray afternoon.
The parks, at their best
Don’t skip the simplest option. Mary S. Young’s trails are beautiful when the leaves come down, and the river parks are quieter now that summer’s over. A rainy-day walk with good boots is one of the most West Linn things you can do.
Why fall is a good time to look around
If you’re thinking about a move, fall is honestly a great season to get to know a place. You see a town as it really is, not just at its sunniest. You see which streets drain well after a storm, how the light falls in October, and where people actually gather when it’s cold.
You don’t have to figure that out alone. If you’d like to spend a fall afternoon driving a few neighborhoods together, I’d love that. Reach out any time.