I'm visiting, rating, and ranking as many of Portland's 279 parks as I can. Check out the introduction and rubric. You can also check out the map and rankings here.
Date Visited: Sunday, 3/27/2022
Visitors: Alex, Kita, Nana
Distance Walked: 1.33 miles
The second park on our tour was one I found through the All Trails app. The reviews piqued my interest immediately. Just like Shrek Forever After, reviews for this park are negative to middling.
The city’s official website gives just a one-sentence description of the park. “This site is named after pioneer Clinton Kelly, who settled this donation land claim east of the Willamette river in 1848.” (As a comparison, Powell Butte, the park we visited in part 1 of this series had five paragraphs of description). The mystery thickens.
A quick Google search led me to, hands down, the wildest story of a park I have so far read (to be fair, I don’t read all that many park histories). The city’s website seems to have left out a long and interesting history.
The Park sits on top of Kelly Butte, an extinct volcano (okay, interesting start). A farm was built there by the aforementioned Clinton Kelly. The 20th century brought a prison quarry, where incarcerated people would crush rocks to be used on Portland roads. There was a 30 year period where buildings erected on Kelly Butte were used as a way to quarantine contagious disease patients.
Apparently, most famously, the butte was the site of the city’s greatest Cold War fears. A bunker was built there, and it was designed to house city leaders in the event of a nuclear attack. Copies of millions of civic documents were backed up there. However, the bombs never dropped, and the 20,000 square foot facility was eventually retrofitted as an emergency services dispatch center.
Today, the park is under city management as a “natural area.” I couldn’t find any primary sources for it, but I found a couple of online reviews claiming the city had not done any maintenance on the park in several years. A second reviewer claimed that calling this a nature area was BS, as the hill had been clear cut several times in the past century. This makes sense, given the history of extensive farming and building development.
But on to our grade for this park:
Dog-Friendliness: 2.5
So, technically, the signage explicitly says “no dogs allowed.” But I’d guess that a dog on a leash is the least concerning hooliganism happening in this park. There are quite a few trails, but don’t expect them to be suitable for all dogs. Small pets will probably struggle, as the trails are poorly maintained; branches and tall grass are more common than not.
Further, pet parents interested in responsibly cleaning up dog poop can expect no help from the city on this one. There’s not a trash bin in sight, let alone a poop-designated one.
Oh, and coyotes are pretty commonly heard up on this hill according to locals. Take that as you will.
Kid-Friendliness: 0
I’ve seen a few parents post pictures of their children at this park on online review sites, but I didn’t seem to think it was a kid-friendly space. The park has no facilities like restrooms or playgrounds. The trails are narrow, steep, and overgrown. There are known tent camps that might make folks feel a little uneasy (though in my several visits to the park, I’ve only met friendly faces).
Walkability: 2.5
The hikes are steep, narrow, overgrown, and confusing. But they are there. All Trails says less than a mile, but there are some zigzagging paths around the park that are not mapped on the app. Because the views of Mt Hood and the surrounding Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood are nice, it might be worth it for those interested. But for my money, there are nicer parks to walk in Southeast Portland.
Scenery: 2.5
Honestly, this was pretty surprising. There’s a clearing/meadow at the end of the asphalt entrance to the park when you enter through SE 103rd Ave, and from it you can get wonderful views of Mt Hood, weather permitting. Urban landscape peaks through the trees at every turn, but some might be demoralized by the tents and litter that are pretty common in the lower-lying areas of the park.
Facilities: 0
I couldn’t find anything official statement from Parks and Recreation, but, as I mentioned above, I had seen online reviews that claimed the city didn’t do any upkeep. This certainly appears to be the case. There is a pretty extensive water tank system on top of the hill, which trucks with government-issued license plates drive up to all the time. Unfortunately, there are no trash bins, benches, picnic tables, restrooms, portapotties, or even streetlights to speak of. The small visitor parking lot for 3-4 cars is often full of folks who live in or near the park.
Overall Score: 6.5 out of 25
Ranking as of posting: 2 (of 2)
What Portland park should we visit next?
(I used a local Portland news publication post for the history of Kelly Butte. It was very informative and helpful.)
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