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Explore Portland’s urban forest—the 1.2 million trees in parks and natural areas, 333,000 street trees, and 2.9 million trees on private property.
Step outside and imagine Portland as a living museum, an open-air arboretum. Some trees have stood for centuries, towering more than 240 feet high and supporting entire ecosystems of birds, insects, and wildlife. Others are newly planted and just beginning to grow, relying on regular care to thrive.
How much do you know about the trees around you? Explore these pages to discover more about your neighborhood trees, native trees, tree identification tools, games and activities, and the services trees provide.
Portland Tree Canopy
Tree canopy is the layer of leaves and branches that covers the ground when viewed from above. It keeps us cool during record-breaking summer heat, cleans our air, and makes our city beautiful.
Today, our tree canopy is not equal across Portland. Some neighborhoods have significantly fewer trees and experience hotter streets and fewer benefits as a result.
Quick Facts:
- 32% of Portland's land area is covered by tree canopy
- Tree canopy in the Central City is only 12%
The City's goal is to increase Portland's overall tree canopy to 45% over the next 40 years so that every neighborhood can enjoy the benefits trees provide.
Street Trees
Portland is home to more than 333,000 street trees, including:
- 252,180 trees along streets
- 81,000 trees in natural areas beside roads, especially in areas like the West Hills
Together, Portland's streets feature 354 different tree species.
The most common street tree is the Norway maple, with more than 18,000 trees making up about 7% of the city's street tree population. While common, Norway maples are no longer considered a good choice for urban planting.
Their shallow roots compete with nearby plants for water, and their dense canopies block sunlight, making it difficult for other vegetation to grow. Because they spread aggressively and crowd out native species, Portland has designated the Norway maple as a nuisance plant.
Park Trees
Portland parks and natural areas are treasured homes to more than 1.2 million trees. In 2019, Urban Forestry staff and hundreds of dedicated volunteers completed the city's first comprehensive park tree inventory, documenting 25,734 trees across 174 parks to better understand, protect, and care for Portland's park trees.
Altogether, Portland parks hold 303 different tree species. The most common is the Douglas-fir, a Pacific Northwest native. Nearly 7,000 Douglas-firs were recorded, representing about 27% of inventoried park trees.
Explore what staff and volunteers discovered through virtual park tours:
You can also use Portland Parks & Recreation's interactive Park Finder Map to locate a park near you and continue exploring.
Fun Fact: Big trees do the most work. One Douglas-fir can provide the same cooling as 10 smaller trees, such as a dogwood.
Canopy and Tree Inventory Maps
- Use the Tree Canopy Explorer to see how canopy cover varies across Portland neighborhoods and how it has changed over time.
- Use our mobile-friendly tree inventory map to search by address, species, or neighborhood.
- Learn about tree types, size, and trends through an interactive dashboard, by neighborhood thematic maps, and through the street tree inventory report.
More Information
- Read an interactive report about the park tree inventory.
- Download reports, protocol manuals, and data from our park and street tree inventories.
- Explore live tree information across Portland through the City's TreePlotter Inventory and Portland Open GeoData.
- See past presentations on the City's tree inventory process and tree science on our Tree Summit page.