Inside the Museum
Through interactive and featured art exhibits, visitors can learn how the way forests are managed affects everyday lives and how they are crucial to the forestry conversation.
Change the Way You See the Forest!
Located in Portland’s forested Washington Park just steps from the MAX Light Rail, World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum invites visitors to examine forests and consider all the ways they impact our lives.
The dramatic 20,000-square-foot wooden building has been a Portland icon since 1971. Visitors get a bird’s-eye view of a northwest forest, explore society’s connection to the woods, and learn about the challenges and opportunities facing this critical natural resource.
First Floor Exhibits
The first floor explores the many roles forests play in our lives. Start with our featured theater experience, Wildfire | Climate | Forests, then discover the Forest Reading Nook, plant a tree in the Tree Planting Area, explore large tree slices that reveal the stories trees tell, and learn about the forest wood products we rely on every day. Hands-on experiences bring forests to life for visitors of all ages.
Wildfire | Climate | Forests
Our immersive 5-screen theater experience Wildfire | Climate | Forests explores one of the most urgent issues of our time: how forests, climate change, and catastrophic wildfire are deeply connected—and what choices we can make today to shape a better future.
Animals in the Forest
Timberjack Harvester
Forest Reading Nook
A cozy space where kids and parents can read, explore, and imagine the wonders of the forest through books. We also host regular storytime events, bringing stories of nature and adventure to life for the whole family.
Second Floor Exhibits
The second floor takes a global perspective, exploring how people around the world are connected to and dependent on their local forests. Here you’ll travel through different parts of the world to see how forests are managed. The second floor also includes our rotating art gallery, Leadership Hall, and a step back in time to the roots and legacy of World Forestry Center.
Lookout Landscape
Featured Art Exhibition on display September 5, 2026 - February 28, 2027.
The wildfire-inspired work will explore diverse cultural narratives of Pacific Northwest forests through installation art, architectural design, material culture, and interdisciplinary science- communication at the intersection of culture and forest ecology.
Lookout Landscape explores the iconic lookout tower, trail culture, and backcountry gear as a means to explore the rich (and sometimes conflicting) relationships between the “working forests” and the people that call them home.
Take a Journey
Embark on a whirlwind virtual tour of the world with stops in Siberia, China, South Africa, and Brazil. Learn about the four forest types (boreal, temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical) and meet people working to keep their countries’ forests sustainable.
Our World's Forests
Leadership Hall
Our Forestry Leadership Hall commemorates those who have contributed to the social, economic, and environmental benefits of forests. More than 200 leaders have been in inducted since 1971.
Old Forestry Building
Campus Highlights
The second floor takes a global perspective, exploring how people around the world are connected to and dependent on their local forests. Here you’ll travel through different parts of the world to see how forests are managed. The second floor also includes our rotating art gallery, Leadership Hall, and a step back in time to the roots and legacy of World Forestry Center.
Peggy the Locomotive
Petrified Stump
Become a Member Today!
