Gresham has over a half dozen buttes that are part of the broader Boring Lava Dome complex created from eruptions 100,000 to six million years ago. Most of these buttes are clustered south of downtown and gently drain to the north by the main stem of Johnson Creek. Take a hike through Forest Park East and discover the forested buttes that rise above Gresham.
Spring abounds! Come along with the resident naturalist of Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge for a lesson in the plants and animals to look for during spring along the Springwater.
This 2-acre property is located on NE 54th Street at 63rd Avenue in the East Minnehaha neighborhood. The undeveloped property currently features informal, soft-surface trails and is heavily wooded. A water tower and property owned by the city of Vancouver's public works department is located on the southwest side of the property. The park's name refers to the surrounding housing subdivision.
Surrounding the confluence of two streams, Cedar Mill Creek and Beaverton Creek, is the Tualatin Hills Nature Park, a remarkably diverse 222-acre wildlife preserve with wetlands, forests, and streams that are habitat for all sorts of insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Located only minutes from downtown Portland, Tryon Creek State Natural Area is Oregon's only state park within a major metropolitan area. Every day, visitors come to hike or stroll the nature trails through the verdant ravine between Boones Ferry Road and Terwilliger Boulevard in southwest Portland.
Lying at the heart of the beautifully manicured Reed College campus, the Reed College Canyon remains an island of untamed nature in the center of an urban area. Essentially untouched from the 1930s to 2000, the canyon has been the force of an ambitious habitat restoration project for the past decade. This work has restored the canyon to its "natural" state while improving opportunities for visitors to appreciate its beauty.
Discover wildlife on this trek from Tigard's Cook Park to Tualatin's Hedges Creek Marsh. The wetlands are remnants of what was once a much larger marsh system prior to construction of the sports fields. Still, they are home to birds and mammals you'd expect to see in the area — red-winged blackbirds, common yellowthroats, marsh wrens, and great blue herons. Waterfowl common in winter include American wigeon, gadwall, and northern shoveler.
The refuge, located 15 miles south of Portland, is home to a variety of habitats including remnant and restored communities along the river, forested wetlands, riparian forests, oak and pine meadows and grasslands, and deciduous/coniferous forests. In the early 1990s, local citizens proposed the preservation of open space along the bottomlands of the Tualatin River.
This large natural area has soft surface trails.
On the west bank of the Willamette River south of downtown Portland, this popular park includes areas for soccer, tennis, and picnicking, as well as a boat/canoe dock & ramp, a dog off-leash area, walking paths, and a playground.
