OUR FAVORITE FLYING LOCATIONS in the Portland, OR area are Delta Park West and the Columbia River beach on Marine Drive adjacent to 42nd Street boat ramp.

DELTA PARK WEST IS NEXT TO THE PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY. It should not be confused with Delta Park East where the baseball and soccer fields are. Delta Park West is a large grassy field next to the yellow Light Rail Train’s park and ride lot and the entrance to PIR. If driving, take I-5 to the PIR exit, and follow the signs to the entrance to the racetrack. Park next to the field in paved lot. You can judge wind speed by the flags on top the race track entrance. The field is grass until late July and early August when it gets dry. Fly in the south non-dog area away from the power lines. Great place for single line kites flown no higher than 400 feet.

Our second choice for flying is the BEACH NEXT TO THE 42ND STREET BOAT RAMP ON NE MARINE DRIVE. From the west you can get there via Marine Drive off I-5 or from the East off 122nd. Or you can come out 33rd Ave and turn right onto Marine Drive. Pass Salty’s Restaurant, then Sextant Bar and immediately you will see the boat ramp. If you park in the boat ramp lot you must pay $5.00. If you park off Marine Drive next to the traffic light for pedestrians, you won’t need to pay. Space is limited here. More parking is available accross the street next to the airport runway. The fly area is sand and some high grass. Keep your lines out of the grass as much as you can. No single line kites here above 150 feet. Airplanes take off and land right over your head. Sometimes you’ll feel the jet wash on your kite. But the view is beautiful and the wind is unobstructed off the water. Plug in your I-Pod to drown out the air traffic.

WE FLY EVERY MONDAY NIGHT, weather permitting, 4:30 to 7:30 PM. You can call us to see where we will be on a given Monday night. Call the store at 503-282-1214. You can also check the www.kitestoo.com kite blog to determine the wind speed and weather conditions. We don’t fly at Delta Park if the wind is below 5 miles per hour. If we go to the beach and don’t find any wind, we’ll likely be in the Sextant Bar next to the boat ramp. If we can’t fly, we can at least have few beers and talk kites. Some weeks we switch to Tues. night for better conditions. We teach new people and let you fly the kites in our bag. Fly before you buy. Test out kites to determine which is best for you.

Let Fly,

Kite Guy