A river flows, glassy green and silent along a cliff carved by a winter flood, then slows and chatters along gravel and sand bars bright with flecks of mica. Above, the wind finds its voice on a ridge caught between the river's bends.
It's hard to believe you're in Multnomah County, home to streetcars, high rises, neighborhoods and freeways. Here, in 1,000 acres of river, forest and ridge, you're sheltered from the rush of life in one of the nation's extraordinary places, Oxbow Regional Park on the wild and scenic Sandy River.
A park is born
An oxbow is a u-shaped bend in a river caused by erosion of the outside bank. At Oxbow Regional Park, the river's s-shape offers two bends that provide water access or views at almost every vantage point. The park's human history dates back millennia, to native people who fished and gathered here. The trees they foraged beneath still cast shadows on the river.
In 1963, the land became a county park. In 1994, recognizing the regional draw of the park, the county transferred it to Metro.
Change comes to Oxbow on nature's timetable – sometimes slowly and seasonally, sometimes with cataclysmic lurches. Each year, the river decides its own course. In February 1996, water running at 85,800 cubic feet per second churned furiously through Oxbow's canyon, carving away sandy cliffs, exposing ancient trees buried during earlier floods and creating a new 3-acre beach. In May 2013, by contrast, the flow was 2,370 cubic feet per second.
An ancient forest towers above the river, but even it changes. In 2009 a microburst sheared tops off several trees, bringing sunshine to parts of the forest floor that hadn't seen it for centuries.
Wildlife thrives in the park. Metro naturalist Deb Scrivens says that Oxbow and protected lands around it offer an ideal home for large animals: "Elk, black bear and cougar have enough space and habitat in the Sandy River Gorge, including Oxbow, to get everything they need without bothering people."
Get your nature fix
This summer, let your timetable slow to nature's pace. Reserve a campsite in the woods at Oxbow or come out for a day of hiking and river play. Float in an inner tube or launch a boat. Stand in the shallows and cast your line. Drive or walk through 160 acres of old growth timber or hike up a wind-swept ridge. Track animals on volcanic sand beaches. Reserve a group picnic shelter for your next work meeting, family reunion or book club.
See just how close the wild is to your doorstep. Leave your devices at home. Instead, tune in and recharge with the nature of Oxbow.