Riverside Golf Course, Portland

This is a winter-only (or rather, snow-only) place — a riverside golf course owned by the city that is converted into lovely nordic skiing course. It’s free, too. The trails are groomed for classic and skate skiing, and the trails (roughly 4.5 miles of them) forms a big, pretty loop (that you can cut off to make shorter). It can be busy on a nice weekend day. There’s also a little skating rink and big sledding hills popular with kids. 

Directions: You can park at several lots and start your ski at different points along the track. All of the lots are off Riverside Street.