On a rainy cold morning in October, eight people scurried through the grass at Sellwood Riverfront Park. They ran from the Guss mobile sauna to plunge into the cold Willamette River, before warming up again.
Small businesses like the mobile sauna can now operate at select parks across the city through a same-day permit system. Vendors pay $5 per day to set up in designated parking areas. Portland Parks & Recreation said the program is designed to support small businesses like food carts, craft vendors and mobile services.
Josh Gordon’s wood-fired mobile sauna, Guss, holds up to 12 people and has sold out every weekend since opening late September. On that rainy October morning, towels hung outside the sauna, and pairs of shoes were lined up.
“The first person who came for the eight o’clock session this morning arrived on a bike in the rain,” Gordon said. “Then a couple with a baby, who alternated sauna sessions with taking care of the baby.”
Gordon said the promise of a warm sauna brought people to the park in the rain — even by bike.
“I’m managing the sauna from outside and can always hear people laughing and a murmur of conversation from inside,” Gordon said.
With the new system, working five days a week would cost vendors $25, totaling $100 monthly. By contrast, food truck owners pay $1,650 each month to rent space at the Foster Food Carts pod. In North Portland, vendors pay $1,200 per month to rent space at the Williams Park Food Court. Food vendors in all venues must also meet requirements set by Multnomah County.
Although the cost is low, parking spots in parks are first-come first-served, so getting a space each day is not guaranteed. Among the more than 30 participating parks are Cathedral Park, Creston Park, Forest Park, Kelly Point Park and Willamette Park. Each one varies in size and location.
“We feel it is unlikely that vendors would cause or drive parking lot congestion,” said Mark Ross, public information officer for Portland Parks & Recreation. “That’s because so far we have not received vendor interest in a location which would cause concern from space limitations. We anticipate this upcoming spring and summer will provide a lot of good data to inform improvements for the permit.”
Mobile sauna
Gordon named his mobile sauna “Guss” in honor of geese: water birds that migrate together in community towards warmth in the winter.
He also drew inspiration for the name from a sauna ritual he discovered in a bathhouse sauna in New York.
“They did an aufguss ritual,” Gordon said, “a German sauna activity where they put snowballs on the rocks with essential oils. They had a facilitator who was moving towels around the room to keep heat moving and there was music playing and spoken word. It was low-key spiritual.”
Although Gordon hopes to eventually have a floating sauna on the water, he is starting out in Sellwood Park while building clientele. He is thankful that he can operate under the mobile vending permit.
“It’s very affordable and I’m able to start now,” Gordon said. “As a small business I really appreciate the low price of entry and I appreciate the easy sign-up system that allows me to not have to coordinate with parks.”
He said the process is so streamlined that he can sign up with the city’s parking app, Parking Kitty. Guss takes up four parking spaces, so he pays $20 per day.
“But I have to be insured, I have to have my business documents, I have to have a valid tax compliance,” Gordon added. “You can’t just pay $5. There are standard business practices that you have to also comply with.”
Vendors must follow City Code, Title 20 park rules. They must possess an Oregon business license and a city of Portland business tax compliance certificate. A certificate of commercial liability insurance is required, including an endorsement that names the city of Portland as additional insured. Vendors also complete a written plan to remove waste.
Gordon arrives at the park at 6 a.m. to grab a spot and fire up the sauna.
“The ability to not be able to pre-reserve a designated space does hinder my ability as a small business owner to operate with a sense of consistency,” Gordon said, “And that’s a little bit of a challenge but I view this as phase one.”
Guss sauna is at Sellwood Riverfront Park on weekends from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The drop-in rate is $30 per hour. A group of 12 people can spend an hour there for $280, and other options are available with booking online at
theguss.com.
“I’m hoping that after a season of activity here we’ll be able to go back to the city and PP&R and say we brought 5,000 people to the river that wouldn’t have used it at all and they all loved it,” Gordon said.
Ross has seen interest from other entrepreneurs about getting their businesses into Portland without long-term contracts or leases. Portland Parks & Recreation has had discussions with several area vendors over the past months selling coffee, kayak rentals and even a Halloween shop.
Coffee van
A few miles away, Michele Wong recently started bringing a coffee van called Where’s Coffee Girl to Mt. Tabor Park. The name is a spinoff of her two kids’ favorite book when both were young, “Where’s Waldo?” After working in the restaurant business for 30 years, Wong has opted to run a mobile coffee van instead of a full-time brick-and-mortar business.
“I park near the top so people can see the espresso machine,” Wong said. “You can park wherever a car can park.”
Wong’s van works within the PP&R rules because it is a fully self-contained, licensed motorized vehicle. A tow-behind trailer that stays connected to a motor vehicle is also allowed, but the program does not allow carts unhitched from a vehicle.
The previous permitting process required more time and paperwork. Using Parking Kitty reduces the permit price and applies to parking lots so vendors can set up business the same day.
Wong finds the simplicity appealing. It’s an opportunity for small businesses to test their service or product and see which location generates the most interest without committing to one place.
“It makes it easier,” Wong said. “I’m just a one-man band and I’m terrible at marketing.”
Wong said her daily goal is to earn $500 or even less. Some extra money for her family while her daughter attends college and her son pursues a ski racing career.
“This initiative removes financial and administrative barriers for small, mobile vendors to operate within parks,” said Priya Dhanapal, deputy city administrator for Public Works. “It’s about creating opportunities on Parks property, bringing vibrancy to Portland’s public green spaces, and supporting local enterprise year-round in a way that benefits everyone.”
Wong’s first coffee shop, Common Grounds, is still open on Southeast Hawthorne, although it has gone through several owners since she sold it in 2002, after running it for 10 years. With the coffee van, she continues to enjoy making coffee and being around community.
About two years ago Wong saw a notice from the city of Portland about applying for an annual permit to operate in city parks. That earlier iteration of the program required liability insurance and was first-come first-served. She chose not to pursue it.
“I couldn’t see getting a year permit, I like not having a schedule,” Wong said. “I don’t want to be somewhere three to five days per week.”
Word is getting out. Wong had quite a few customers on her first day with Where’s Coffee Girl at Mt. Tabor.
“It worked well and I’ll try two to three days per week,” Wong said. “Volunteers for Friends of Mt. Tabor want me to go on Saturdays. A lot of people ask if I will be there every Saturday and I probably won’t because I’m a skier. And only in dry weather.”
Wong has sold coffee from her van at baseball games, teacher-appreciation days, holiday parties, weddings and dinner parties. She raises prices and works fast when operating at a private event because many want a percentage of sales or charge a vendor fee. But at Mt. Tabor, she charges normal rates.
“We expect every sort of event from large public ones to small birthday parties could embrace the opportunity to have vendors at their event without expanding the permitting process and fees,” Ross said. “Portland has wonderful enormous parks that guests are required to leave to find a cup of coffee or a snack. There are miles of waterfront access without a kayak to use. These issues could be a thing of the past with this new system.”
Wong is considering the idea of bringing Where’s Coffee Girl to Sellwood Riverfront Park so people can get a coffee drink after enjoying the sauna. There is great potential for collaboration among vendors and businesses that complement each other while Portlanders enjoy the parks.
Ross, along with fans of the carts, hope more vendors will head to the parks when the weather warms up in the spring.
For more information on vending and permits in parks, contact the Portland Parks & Recreation Customer Service Center. Additional details, including requirements and a map of available locations, are available at portland.gov/parks/mobilevending.
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This article appears in November 5, 2025.