Lace up those walking shoes or get on your mountain bike — there’s a new park in the Portland metro area for you to explore.

Metro, the regional government for urban portions of Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties, celebrated the grand opening of Newell Creek Canyon Nature Park with an official ribbon cutting on Sat., April 2. More than 400 visitors enjoyed a day full of guided hikes, mountain biking tours, geology talks, nature activities + food.

Quick facts

Location: 485 Warner Milne Rd., Oregon City
Size: 236 acres
Trails: 2.5 miles for pedestrians + nearly 2 miles for mountain bikers
Open: Sunrise to sunset, daily
Facilities: Parking, picnic tables, benches, public restrooms
Pet friendly: No
Trail use: Pedestrians + bicyclists
Wheelchair accessible: Yes, in the day-use area

Brief history

Work on Newell Creek Canyon began in 1995 when voters passed a bond measure for Metro to start protecting natural areas in the region. Another measure in 2019 funded the planning + building of a $3 million park.

Over the past 25 years, Metro has focused on restoring habitats and encouraging ecological diversity in Newell Creek Canyon by removing invasive plants and human litter and planting 20,550 native shrubs + trees.

Why you should go

Getting to Newell Creek Canyon Nature Park couldn’t be easier because it’s accessible by bike, bus, and car and is located in the heart of Oregon City.

The spacious picnic area shaded by bigleaf maple trees is the perfect setting for a relaxing afternoon with a book, a frisbee, and snacks. Mountain bikers will find trails marked specifically for their use, while walkers can enjoy shared-use trails that wind through mossy stands of Douglas fir and Oregon white oak trees. Along the paths, look for native plants like Oregon grape, oceanspray, and Pacific ninebark, as well as salmon-bearing streams and wildlife like Northern red-legged frogs + red-breasted sapsuckers.

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