Northwest Ghost Tours: McLaughlin Promenade in Oregon City

We loved our ghost tour!

Tour guide Rocky Smith is an Oregon City native, teacher, and councilman, as well as the organizer of the Oregon Ghost Conference. It is hard to conceive of anyone better able to lead the tour.

Along with the spooky stories, we appreciated the wealth of historical context, and the effort to sort fact from fiction. We appreciate that for the respect it shows to the place and the people, regardless of whether those people are still living.

 

Truthfully, they don't need the embellishments, because Oregon City has plenty of ghosts.

Of course, those are not ghosts in the shop there; that is decor. It is nonetheless an interesting storefront, with plenty to look at, and conveniently, a bathroom. However, the shop itself is not haunted. Probably. Except for maybe that one doll.

Although all of the tours sounded interesting, we chose the McLaughlin Promenade tour because we have enjoyed our time exploring up there.

Those tours also tend to be earlier, as the promenade is accessed via the Oregon City Municipal Elevator, and that closes at 9:30. We did not mind having more daylight, but there will still be some darkness by the end. (You are more likely to hear ghostly laughter on the later tour.)

This did not end up being a problem. I brought a flashlight in my purse as a precaution, but I never brought it out. Rocky does carry a lantern (and a light on his phone), but in general there was enough public lighting to see, at least while we were there.

At one point I thought I felt a bite, and started to worry about bugs. Only one bite surfaced, and not until two days later, but it may be something to think about.

The bigger issue was parking. Street parking was full, and although a map checked out before showed several parking lots, they were all private lots patrolled by predatory towing companies. ("Predatory" was on a sign, and it was not an exaggeration.) The best bet is probably the Municipal Parking lot, about four blocks away at 1220 Main Street.

https://www.downtownoregoncity.org/parking-transportation

COVID: It was primarily outdoors, so we did not worry too much. 

Accessibility: All of the tours description mention stairs, as well as the approximate walking distance.For our tour, the only stairs were briefly on the Grand Staircase, then back up. The tour descriptions also mention calling to arrange an alternative route if the stairs will cause difficulty. I do not doubt that they can and will make helpful accommodations.

And of course, there is an elevator. A big one.

Highly recommended.

http://www.nwghosttours.com/