Touch Grass: Laurelhurst Park

Located just a straight shot down Chavez Blvd. is Laurelhurst Park, a 32.27-acre city park full of newly blooming flowers, a pond, a swing set, and much more. Acquired by the city in 1909, according to its section on the Portland.gov website Laurelhurst Park “was purchased from the estate of William S. Ladd, who developed Ladd's Addition and twice was mayor of Portland. Ladd named his 486-acre parcel Hazel Fern Farm, after the name of one of the streets in the area. Here Ladd developed one of the most prestigious stock farms in the West. In fact, his purebred Jersey cattle probably laid the foundation for Oregon's future livestock industry. As East Portland developed, Ladd's tract of land became too valuable for agricultural use.” As the land for this park was originally a farm, its pond had “always been a favorite watering hole for cattle, as well as a favorite swimming hole for both children and adults,” before it became a park.

The park was designed by Emanuel Mische, Portland's park superintendent from 1908-1914, who was “inspired by the Olmstedian 'natural' landscaping approach.” According to Portland.gov “his plan included several distinct sections - the concert grove, Firwood Lake, children's lawn, plateau and broad meadows, picnic grove, and Rhododendron Hill. Workers were hired to deepen the pond into a 3-acre lake.” This design was effective, as in “1919, the park was named the most beautiful park on the west coast by the Pacific Coast Parks Association. Thanks to the efforts of the Portland Historical Landmarks Commission, in February 2001 Laurelhurst Park was named to the National Register of Historic Places.” The park was also the site of the Rose Festival Queen's Coronation, which took place on floats in the pond for many years. However, now the space is more natural, with many different species of flora and fauna such as catfish and ducks.Within the park, there are many walking paths, some paved, as well as sports areas and a full playground. The playground is attached to a preschool within the park, so is often in use during the day. The park hosts many events throughout the year, some of which are discussed on Travel Portland’s website, such as the Portland Water Lantern Festival. Travel Portland also mentions places to eat around the park, useful to make more of an event out of a visit as it is a bit of a longer trip from Reed. Laurelhurst Park is open 5:00am-10:30pm daily and has picnic areas available to reserve, which can be done by calling 503-823-2525.  Travel to the park is logistically easy, with it located just off Chavez Blvd., 3.5 miles from Reed. By car, this is a 13 minute journey, which is over an hour on foot, and roughly a half hour on public transit. While the park has no dedicated parking lot that the Quest could see, there is plenty of on-street parking in the surrounding neighborhood and on the park’s edges. To learn more visit its section on the Portland.gov website. So, go out and touch grass in Laurelhurst Park!