Touch Grass: Sellwood Park

By: Adrian Keller Feld

6.Feb.24

Not to be confused with Sellwood Riverfront Park, a location covered in the November 17 edition of “Touch Grass,” Sellwood Park is a small neighborhood park located just down the road. Now a neighborhood within Portland, Sellwood was actually its own town until being incorporated into the larger city in 1893, according to the city of Portland’s website. A couple of decades later, the land for Sellwood Park was acquired in 1909. The 16.65-acre park is located right on the edge of the much larger Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and has impressive views of the Willamette River, as it looks down at the bank belonging to Sellwood Riverfront Park. With so many different parks in such close range, it can be difficult to keep them all straight or decide where to start, but the Explore Sellwood Moreland website has a great section outlining the different parks in the Sellwood area, as well as their main highlights.

Sellwood Park is a traditional neighborhood park, with facilities such as an “Accessible Picnic Area, Accessible Restroom, Horseshoe Pit, Picnic Table, Playground, Paths, Baseball Field, Soccer Field, Softball Field, Basketball Court, and a Tennis Backboard,” according to its section on the Portland.gov website. Sellwood Park also has a kitchen that parkgoers can reserve, which was originally constructed in the 1920s as a concessions stand. While dogs are allowed at Sellwood Park, they must remain on leash. Some online sites also claim it has an outdoor pool, though the Quest was not able to confirm this, and if it is still in operation, it is likely closed for the season. Sellwood Park is “funded through a partnership between Portland Parks & Recreation and Columbia Sportswear, Inc.” according to the Portland.gov website. Also according to the website, the land for Sellwood Park used to be the site of the City View Racetrack. To learn more about the racetrack’s history, the Portland Tribune wrote an article about it that can be accessed online.

Getting to Sellwood Park from Reed can be accomplished with some public transit on the 19 bus, however there is significant walking on either end. It is a 47-minute walk away, and a 10-minute drive, however, the park is only a 13-minute walk out of the center of Sellwood, which is a great destination in and of itself, with a variety of shops and restaurants to explore. The park is very cozy, with tall trees lining one side, and buildings scattered throughout with slight Nordic flourishes that make it feel like a fairytale, aided by the string lights draped around the playground and surrounding areas. 

Sellwood Park can be a good place to go for a bit of a break, to soak up some views and pause while exploring the city. To learn more, visit its section on the Portland.gov website. So, go out and touch grass in Sellwood Park!