Touch Grass: Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge
Adrian Keller Feld
10.March.24
Located in Sellwood, Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is a roughly 162-acre floodplain wetland, acquired by the City of Portland to become a city park in 1959, according to its section on the Portland.gov website. Per the Friends of Oaks Bottom website, it then “became an official wildlife refuge in 1988 and was Portland’s first urban wildlife refuge and Migratory Bird Park.” Friends of Oaks Bottom describes itself as an organization “dedicated to the preservation of the largest remaining natural area in the Willamette River’s lower floodplain,” and says “We engage the surrounding communities and the city of Portland at large in conserving this unique natural area through education and volunteer work.” The Wildlife Refuge is the last of the major Sellwood greenspaces to be covered by the Quest, with prior ones being Sellwood Riverfront Park on 17 November 2023 and Sellwood Park on 16 February 2024. In fact, the Wildlife Refuge was meant to be the Quest’s first outing into Sellwood, however, the driving directions are unclear, leading the Quest to instead find themselves at other local parks, slowly narrowing in on the Wildlife Refuge. It is easier to find via walking and biking, and does have oft-used biking trails.
The main draw of the Wildlife Refuge is a loop hike, which is a relatively easy 3.8-mile walk. There are multiple lookout sections on the trail to rest, and it is suitable not to go all the way, but instead turn around whenever it makes sense. The Oregon Hikers website describes the views from the hike “through the maples and grand firs to the Oaks Amusement Park and the tall buildings downtown. Fringe-cup, trillium, and fairy bells bloom on this slope in the spring. The graveled trail traverses down the slope to stone steps at the corner of a large field. Near here, you can see the railroad line and the busy Springwater Corridor bicycle/walking trail.” They also have more technical information about the hike, useful for anyone planning to embark on it for the first time.
While much of the hike explores views like those described above, of the lovely wetlands, that is not all there is. Looming off to one side is a massive building with a wetland bird mural painted across. The Quest was curious as to what this structure was in its enormity, and discovered it was actually Wilhelm's Portland Memorial Funeral Home, Mausoleum, and Crematory. A “modest one-story view from the street hides something extraordinary – a massive, eight-story mausoleum complex built into the side of a hill overlooking Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. The century-old mausoleum has been expanded over the years into a seemingly endless labyrinth of hallways and staircases. The sprawling complex takes up three city blocks and contains more than seven miles of corridors. Three fountains cascade down several floors. In each stone-lined room, remains are stacked from floor to ceiling, often 14 urns, or seven caskets, high,” according to an article in The Oregonian. The same article says the building holds “some 97,000 souls and is one of the largest mausoleums on the West Coast,” explaining the size of the building, which can only truly be appreciated from the Wildlife Refuge. The Mausoleum actually predates the Wildlife Refuge’s city acquisition, being founded in 1901 originally as the Portland Crematorium.
The loop trail snakes directly behind the building, which provides a good view of the mural, painted mainly in 2009, that “covers eight surfaces totaling approximately 43,485 square feet, and is estimated to be the largest mural in the United States” according to its section on the Public Art Archive website. It also states that the mural “highlights the importance of the 160-acre Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge to the City of Portland, OR's quality of life, the contribution of the wetland system as a critical element of the city's green infrastructure, and its contribution to maintaining biodiversity in the city and metropolitan area.” While a bit creepy that the main human things to see from the Wildlife Refuge are the empty Oaks Amusement Park and the back of a massive funeral home, the nature is quite pretty. It is easy to find living examples of many of the birds painted in the mural, as well as plenty of different plants and the majesty of the water.Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is a ten-minute drive from Reed, and it is best to route the navigation to the Sellwood Park parking lot, which is directly next to an entrance to the Wildlife Refuge and the loop trail. It is also a 51-minute walk from Reed, but only 13 minutes on a bike. Dogs are also allowed in the Wildlife Refuge but must remain on leash to protect the environment. The park is open from 5am-midnight daily, though the parking lot closes earlier at 10pm. To learn more visit its section on the Portland.gov website. So, go out and touch grass in Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge!