The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia.
Thornton Creek is 18 miles (29 km) of urban creeks and tributaries from southeast Shoreline through northeast Seattle to Lake Washington. Its 12-square-mile (31 km2) watershed, the largest in Seattle, exhibits relatively dense biodiversity for an urban setting; it is home to frogs, newts, ducks, herons, and beavers, in addition to more than 75,000 people. From west of Jackson Park Golf Course in Shoreline, from Sunny Walter-Pillings Pond in Licton Springs–North College Park, and north Northgate Thornton Creek flows through Maple Leaf and Lake City, including the Victory Heights, Meadowbrook, and Matthews Beach neighborhoods, and empties into the lake at Matthews Beach Park.
Johnson Creek is a 25-mile (40 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the Portland metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its catchment consists of 54 square miles (140 km2) of mostly urban land occupied by about 180,000 people as of 2012. Passing through the cities of Gresham, Portland, and Milwaukie, the creek flows generally west from the foothills of the Cascade Range through sediments deposited by glacial floods on a substrate of basalt. Though polluted, it is free-flowing along its main stem and provides habitat for salmon and other migrating fish.
Tryon Creek is a 4.85-mile (7.81 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about 6.5 square miles (16.8 km2) in Multnomah and Clackamas counties. The stream flows southeast from the Tualatin Mountains through the Multnomah Village neighborhood of Portland and the Tryon Creek State Natural Area to the Willamette in the city of Lake Oswego. Parks and open spaces cover about 21 percent of the watershed, while single-family homes dominate most of the remainder. The largest of the parks is the state natural area, which straddles the border between the two cities and counties.
The Tryon Creek State Natural Area is a state park located primarily in Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the only Oregon state park within a major metropolitan area. The 645-acre (261 ha) park lies between Boones Ferry Road and Terwilliger Boulevard in southwest Portland in Multnomah County and northern Lake Oswego in Clackamas County and is bisected from north to south by Tryon Creek. To the north, the park abuts the Lewis & Clark Law School campus.
Noble Woods Park is a wooded city park in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Located on approximately 40 acres (160,000 m2) along Rock Creek, the nature park with wetlands and forests is situated between West Baseline Road on the north and Southwest Borwick Road to the south near the Orenco neighborhood. The city acquired the land for the park in 1992 and opened the park in the eastern section of the city in 1998. Noble Woods has two entrances, a picnic area, and hiking trails.
Fanno Creek is a 15-mile (24 km) tributary of the Tualatin River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about 32 square miles (83 km2) in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including about 7 square miles (18 km2) within the Portland city limits.
Balch Creek is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the crest of the Tualatin Mountains, the creek flows generally east down a canyon along Northwest Cornell Road in unincorporated Multnomah County and through the Macleay Park section of Forest Park, a large municipal park in Portland. At the lower end of the park, the stream enters a pipe and remains underground until reaching the river. Danford Balch, after whom the creek is named, settled a land claim along the creek in the mid-19th century. After murdering his son-in-law, he became the first person legally hanged in Oregon.
The Columbia Slough is a narrow waterway, about 19 miles (31 km) long, in the floodplain of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source in the Portland suburb of Fairview, the Columbia Slough meanders west through Gresham and Portland to the Willamette River, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia. It is a remnant of the historic wetlands between the mouths of the Sandy River to the east and the Willamette River to the west. Levees surround much of the main slough as well as many side sloughs, detached sloughs, and nearby lakes. Drainage district employees control water flows with pumps and floodgates. Tidal fluctuations cause reverse flow on the lower slough.
The Wood River is a short river in the southern region of the U.S. state of Oregon, and part of the Klamath Basin drainage. It flows 18 miles (29 km) through the Fremont-Winema National Forests, Bureau of Land Management land, and private property in southern Oregon. Its watershed consists of 220 square miles (570 km2) of conifer forest, rural pasture land, and marsh. The river provides habitat for many species of wildlife including an adfluvial (migratory) and resident populations of native Great Basin redband trout.
Benson State Recreation Area is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area is a public park and nature reserve between the Columbia Slough and the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. At about 2,000 acres (810 ha), it is one of the largest urban freshwater wetlands in the United States. Metro, the regional government for the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area, manages the park. A covered shelter, restrooms, a paved walkway, and a canoe launch lie on the north side of the natural area.
Rood Bridge Park is a municipal park in southeast Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1999, the park encompasses 60 acres (24 ha) on the north bank of the Tualatin River at its confluence with Rock Creek. Rood Bridge is near Hillsboro High School and sits across the river from Meriwether National Golf Course. The park is the city's largest, and contains tennis courts, a meeting facility, trails, a canoe launch, and a rhododendron garden among other features.
U. J. Hamby Park is a nearly seven acre municipal park in northwest Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1990, the park includes nature trails along a small creek as well as a basketball court and grass lawn. The park is named after the longtime Chevrolet dealership owner, whose family donated the land to the city in 1986. The natural portion of the park includes wetlands and woodlands.
Cooper Mountain Nature Park is a 231 acres (93 ha) nature park in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 2009, the park is owned and operated by Metro, the regional government in the Oregon portion of the metro area. The park is named after Cooper Mountain, the primary geological feature in the area near Beaverton. Maintained by the regional Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, the natural area has 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of hiking trails. It is one of THPRD's two nature parks, along with the Tualatin Hills Nature Park.
Laurelhurst Park is a city park in the neighborhood of Laurelhurst in Portland, Oregon. The 26.81-acre (10.85 ha) park was acquired in 1909 from the estate of former Portland mayor William S. Ladd. The City of Portland purchased the land in 1911, and the following year park superintendent Emanuel Mische designed the park in accordance with the Olmsted Plan.
Sisters State Park is a state park located at the southeast side of the town of Sisters in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The park property is bisected by U.S. Route 20 and Oregon Route 126, creating three separate parcels. The park covers 28 acres (11 ha) of undeveloped forest land along Whychus Creek. It is adjacent to two developed city parks that were once part of the state park. Sisters State Park is administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
Westmoreland Park is a municipal park located in the Westmoreland area of southeast Portland, Oregon's Westmoreland neighborhood, United States. The property for the park was acquired in 1936 and encompasses 42.01 acres (17.00 ha). Located along McLoughlin Boulevard, the park straddles Crystal Springs Creek just downstream from the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. The park is operated by Portland Parks & Recreation and includes sports fields, a playground, and pond. The Royal Rosarian Milk Carton Boat Race takes place every summer in the park's casting pond.
Sitka Sedge State Natural Area is an estuary and beach on the north coast of the U.S. state of Oregon in Tillamook County. Sitka Sedge consists of 357 acres (144 ha) of tidal marsh, mudflats, dunes, forested wetlands, and uplands at the south end of the Sand Lake estuary, north of Tierra Del Mar.
Neerchokikoo is a revitalized Native American village near Portland, Oregon. Neerchokikoo is culturally significant, is an ancient Native encampment in what is now Northeast Portland, and is a gathering site close to the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
