Looking for a safe way to bike from Forest Park to the Tualatin River? Once complete, the Westside Trail will offer commuters and outdoor enthusiasts alike new ways to get to commute, exercise and explore the great outdoors.

Metro's parks and venues offer a variety of recreation opportunities during a spring break staycation, from hiking, to seeing a concert, to even helping finally organize your garage.

For many of the Portland region's residents, next week means spring break. If you're not packing your bags for warmer weather, there's plenty to do with extra time off right here at home.

The construction of stormwater improvements, new restrooms and newly-paved parking lot is continuing at Metro’s M. James Gleason Memorial Boat Ramp, which is on schedule to re-open in June.

Partners envision a 22-mile route connecting Sherwood, Tualatin and Wilsonville

Someday, the Ice Age Tonquin Trail will take you from the banks of the Willamette River in Wilsonville, through Graham Oaks Nature Park and the Villebois neighborhood, past kolk ponds and large boulders left by historic floods – onward to Old Town Sherwood, the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, and Tualatin’s Ki-a-Kuts bridge and Cook Park.

The Ice Age Tonquin Trail is taking one important step back in time – and another big step forward.

Recently renamed for floods that shaped the landscape thousands of years ago, the 22-mile trail now has an official blueprint. Partners along the route worked together on the master plan, bringing the trail closer to reality for cyclists, walkers and runners.

It's a rare commodity in East Portland that families have used for generations. A place where a round of golf is affordable and where you can escape from a hectic day to a beautiful natural area and find some quiet and calm… Ask the community what makes the Glendoveer Golf Course and Tennis Center such a special gem in East Portland and these are some of the comments you'll hear. As CourseCo, a leading West Coast golf operator, stands poised to take over the management of the regionally-owned property, its priority is to keep it that way.

Metro Councilors on Tuesday put a dollar figure on a potential levy to fund maintenance at the Portland region's parks and natural areas.

The councilors gave a unanimous thumbs-up to a tax rate of 9.6 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the potential levy. They're scheduled to decide later this month whether to put the levy on the May 2013 ballot.

Metro parks passes for 2013 are a useful and thoughtful holiday gift. A pass offers users year-long access to Metro's Oxbow and Blue Lake regional parks, Chinook Landing Marine Park and the M. James Gleason Boat Ramp.

The Metro Council confirmed today that the Ringside Steakhouse - an eastside institution since 1979 - will continue operations at the Glendoveer Golf Course and Tennis Center.

More than 120 people attended back to back open houses in October, excited to learn about the proposed route for the Westside Trail. Couldn't make it? It's not too late to share your thoughts. View the open house materials on the project website and submit an online comment form, available until Friday, Nov. 9.