Wikimapia is a multilingual open-content collaborative map, where anyone can create place tags and share their knowledge.

Forest Park (Portland, Oregon)

USA / Oregon / Cedar Mill / Portland, Oregon
 park, hiking, forest
www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?action=Vi...

Forest Park is a municipal and public park, located west of downtown Portland, Oregon. It is the largest natural urban forest reserve in the U.S. The park is 5,000 acres (20.23 km²) with 4,873 acres (19.72 km²) of second and old growth forest, threaded by more than 70 miles (112 km) of recreational trails. Forest Park stretches for over eight miles (13 km) on hillsides overlooking the Willamette River. Though bounded on several sides by residential areas, it retains a wilderness feel.

Forest Park is the third largest urban park (of any kind) in the United States, after Franklin Mountains State Park in El Paso, Texas and South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona.

The area was designated as a park on September 23, 1948 after almost 50 years of citizen advocacy for the City to buy tax-foreclosed properties. By the 1980s, 112 bird species and 62 mammal species had been recorded. An ongoing effort aims to eradicate non-native, invasive species, such as English ivy (Hedera helix).

The Audubon Society of Portland has an adjacent wildlife sanctuary covering 143 acres, which includes more than 4 miles (6.4 km) of trails, as well as a Wildlife Care Center, avian exhibits, and nature store.

Good trail map is offerred by www.greentrails.com (though their website doesn't mention the park)
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Park_(Portland,_Oregon)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   45°34'23"N   122°46'34"W

Comments

  • crummy (guest)
    Pretty awesome park, but you're gonna have to go in pretty deep if you want to actually see any wildlife because the trail-stomping-ipod-listening soccer moms scare everything away.
  • jawshoeaw (guest)
    Soccer moms don't actually make much noise in my experience, and ipods are basically silent (when listened to by soccer moms anyway). Wildlife doesn't generally stand out in the open, regardless of noise levels, as other wildlife then eats it.
  • peter pan (guest)
    Excelling trails for hiking and mountain biking. If you want to see wildlife, go early in the morning to some of the more remote areas away from downtown.
This article was last modified 13 years ago