| Powell Butte Nature Park officially re-opened last month with a new visitor center and parking lot. The city officially established Powell Butte as a nature park in 1987 at 16160 S.E. Powell Boulevard, opening it to the public in 1990. The new visitors center features a solar roof; murals of Portland identifying the city's water and parks systems; educational displays; restrooms; a water pipe exhibit, habitat markers, and displays honoring Native-American tribes. In addition, there is a stone natural area amphitheater and a Benson Bubbler.
Miles of trails accommodate hikers, dog-walkers, mountain bikers, joggers and horseback riders. With more than 600 acres, the abundant wildlife that populates the park includes rabbits, ring-necked pheasants, ground squirrels, raccoons, gray foxes, skunks, bats, chipmunks, coyotes, and black-tailed mule deer. Moreover, the nature park is home to dozens of bird species with its open meadows, groves of wild hawthorn trees, forested slopes of Western red cedar, and wetlands near Johnson Creek. The park is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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