Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum
add photosPart museum, part water park, all fun.
This is an educational water park that includes 10 water slides, a wave pool and children's museum that is dedicated to teaching students about the power of water and its effects on society. The museum features dozens of interactive exhibits.
The museum also boasts an aviation collection with aircraft from the earliest designs to modern examples. Be sure to check out the B747-100 aircraft on the top of the building.
There is an arcade on premise, a cafe and party rooms are available.
4 Reviews for Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum
106
91
'10, '12
0 families found this helpful
"Big Fun!"
The Lad and I checked out the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum a few months ago.
The drive to the museum, from Portland, is about an hour each way (depending on traffic, of course), although it is scenic and takes you through the heart of Yamill Wine Country (there are some really nice stops for mom and dad along the way too…although those stops are made even better when you don’t have a little one tagging along!). We went down Highway 99, through Sherwood, Newberg, and Dundee, turned left at Highway 18, drove about 5 miles and were there.
The museum is broken up into 4 buildings. One building houses the new indoor waterpark, which we didn’t have time to check out, but warrants another trip out there in the near future! To the right of that building is the Aviation part of the museum. As you continue right, the next building is the IMAX theater and lastly is the Space Museum building. We started in the Aviation Museum.
The Spruce Goose is the big draw. They called this plane the “Flying Boat”, and due to war-time restrictions on metal, was built of wood (birch…not spruce as the name would imply) by Howard Hughes. It was originally built as military transport, to fly as many service men as possible to other parts of the world. It was only ever flown once, in 1947 by Hughes and a crew, during the test flight. When you see how truly large the plane is, and how small the 8 engines are, you really have to marvel. Especially, compared to things we have in the sky today.
For folks who just want to stand inside, walk up a set of stairs, enter the door and have a look around. A glass enclosure, keeps you to one small room. For $50/person, you can have a tour, past the glass and sit in the cockpit.
There are over 200 aircraft to look at beside the Spruce Goose, both hanging from the ceiling and arranged throughout the hangar. There are also old cars, lots of big engines, and an area where the kids can play in experimental planes (decomissioned) and learn about air pressure and what reflexes you have to have to be a pilot for the Air Force. The collection is incredible.
After our wander through the museum, we grabbed a quick bite to eat. The cafe in the Aviation building does mostly cold sandwiches, soup, coffee, and ice cream. The cafe in the Space building does things like hamburgers and salads (more of a warm lunch…both places had hot dogs for the kids). The prices ranged from $4.50 for the kids lunch to $7.25 for an adults lunch.
We ate and headed straight for the Space building and were drawn immediately to our right, where they had the Biplane ride for the kids. The Lad picked the blue plane.
We entered the exhibit and were immediately in the Mars Rover area. Both the Lad and I agree…the Rover looks a bit like WALL-E! We spent some time watching the video about how he rolls around Mars, and exited the small room into the larger part of the hangar, straight into the rocket area. The rockets are flat out enormous, so we walked up the stairs and took a look from a viewing area above the exhibits. As we walked along, we could see different things that we wanted to head to when we got down, and also were able to see into a few things that were hanging from the ceiling a little better (we wouldn’t have been able to see from the floor). The rocket that really took my breath away was Titan II.
Titan II is sunk into the floor and still towers above you. You can walk down 2 big flights of stairs that encircle the rocket booster. At the bottom of the first flight is a control room, where you can simulate a rocket take-off. If you walk down to the bottom, you are standing right there next to the engines, and even though it is dormant, it is pretty intense.
As we continued down the balcony, we went down the stairs on the opposite end, and landed at a scene from the first Lunar landing. It was pretty cool to see the space suits the men wore and the car they drove. They even had a hammock the fellas slept in and astronaught food on display (I noticed that it was on loan from the Smithsonian, and I remember seeing it there 4 years ago, when we toured their Air and Space Museum! That stuff really keeps!).
As we walked along, we learned a lot about the space program. The Lad was especially curious about the video that played, teaching us about the first men to go into orbit. Space fashion has certainly come a long way too!
The helicopter exhibit is currently in the Space building and that was really interesting. There is a small helicopter for kids to sit in and pretend they are flying, as well as loads of different helicopters to look at. There are also some fun games for them to learn what it takes to fly helicopters.
As we were exiting, we walked pass the SR-71 Blackbird, one of the worlds fastest planes, which also flew at the earth atmosphere’s edge at an insane 2000 mph. Can you imagine?
Just outside of the Space building, they have installed a fantastic playground. The sign says it was built for kids 5-12, but I saw much smaller kids playing just fine there (you know your kids limits). The swings accomodate babies, and there are smaller slides for the littlest, and big, dark slides for the bigger. The 3 structures are shaped like a helicopter, a plane and a rocket, which was very clever. It was a great way to end the day before hopping back in the car for the drive home. We are looking forward to getting back there again, especially to check out the water park! We will update then!
Send a Message 
Send a Compliment
It's helpful
0 families found this helpful
"The most fun he ever had!"
Our son loved this place, the fact that the imax theater captured his attention for a while was amazing! He was only 2 when we took him there so his attention span was pretty short.
He had fun climbing on the planes, getting pictures taken and trying to figure out what each plane was made of.
After that the playground was a hit! He loved it! The "rocket like" area was his favorite! We are definitely going back!
3 families found this helpful
"Through the Clouds and into Space!"
For the longest time the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum used to be one of the landmarks we would look for on our way to the Oregon Coast. This last vacation I suggested that we drive the approximate 2 hours back inland and see what it was all about. We could not have loved our visit anymore!
When we went there were four of us: Mom, Dad, 3 year old, and 14 month old. The museum is set up in two parts which was a little confusing to us as to where the entrance was. There are actually two entrances, because they are actually two museums, but you only pay one admission.
We visited the Aviation Museum first. It was incredible to see the collection of planes they had, which included the famous Spruce Goose. The volunteers there seemed to mostly be retired veterans who were happy to tell you everything they knew about the planes. One volunteer was even kind enough to offer to take our picture in the “prime” position to get the Spruce Goose. We even got to go inside. They do offer more extensive tours for an additional charge, we passed on this.
The two kids also loved the kids’ area that was set up. It has a lot of hands on set ups, toys, and things for them to play on climb on. It was fun to see how fascinating everything was to them even with how young they were. Upon leaving the Aviation Museum I was a little disappointed to find myself in the “gift shop at the exit” trap.
We then headed over to the Space Museum. While it did not have nearly the collection of the aviation part, it was still fun to see. My husband, who loves science-fiction, completely was enthralled with the whole thing. I was excited to see that there were plans to have one of the shuttles brought there in the future. I will be back to see that. We were again treated to wonderful volunteers. One let my daughter ride the airplane ride a couple times, as there was no one else in line. The last part of the day was spent playing on the themed playground. Both of our children loved that!
I was really happy with our experience and I was also told that there is an expansion in the works for summer 2011 which included a waterpark (complete with waterslides coming out of a plane on top of the building.)
3 families found this helpful
"Must see for Aviation Enthusiasts! "
This is an amazing museum for aviation enthusiasts and with the recent addition of the IMAX and the Space buildings is even more amazing.
The centerpiece of the museum is Howard Hughes Flying Boat H-4 (HK-1) Hercules, often referred to as the “Spruce Goose”. This is an incredible monster of an airplane with wings 20 feet longer than a football field and the capability to carry 750 troops.
The museum has a wonderful collection of aircraft and tanks on display inside the aviation building and around the grounds.
The Space museum is a great addition. We particularly enjoyed the simulated rocket launch.
How long you spend at the museum depends on you and your family. With our 19-month old we can get through both buildings (we skip the IMAX) in 2 or 3 hours. There are cafe's in both museums where you can get some lunch.
If the kiddo's need a break there is fun aviation themed playground/playstructure outside of the space museum.
What's Nearby? Hotels » Activities »
Find Hotels near Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum »
Find Activities near Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum »
Find Restaurants near Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum »
Get the inside scoop from parents who have been there!
