By James Day The City of Silverton’s work on a master plan for its parks is yielding immediate fruit. Two of its major pieces, a trail system at Pettit Lake and new pickleball courts near the skate park, could see design and construction contracts come before the city as early as next month. The funds for both facilities have been […]
By Melissa Wagoner The Oregon Garden recently received a $100,000 grant from Travel Oregon as part of that organization’s $3.6 million Competitive Grants Program focused on improving accessibility and inclusivity through visitor industry improvements across the state. “In my time here, and certainly in the last five years, it’s the largest grant we’ve received,” Delen Kitchen, The Oregon Garden Director […]
By James Day A pair of free guided hikes in the recently upgraded North Canyon area of Silver Falls State Park are on tap for New Year’s Day. The hikes are part of Oregon State park’s annual tradition of waiving parking permit fees on the year’s first day at all state parks that require them. A total of 31 Oregon […]
By James Day It’s salmon season and the Marion Soil & Water Conservation has a series of events planned in the Santiam Canyon for August through October. The district is organizing Salmon Watch field trips for school kids from Sept. 20 through Oct. 18 at Packsaddle Park just east of Gates on Highway 22. Packsaddle is a known spawning ground […]
By James Day Silver Falls State Park has unveiled new trail links and visitors amenities at its North Canyon day-use area. Using funds from state general obligation bonds aimed at improving parks and campgrounds, Silver Falls has added a new parking lot, restrooms, an information kiosk and permit pay station as well as a new trail that links the area […]
By Melissa Wagoner Making the Silverton Reservoir more accessible to more people was high on Britt Edmondson’s list of priorities when he decided to open Paddle Silverton – a mobile stand up paddleboard (SUP) and kayak rental service – on June 14. “I decided to go out on a limb and do what I had hoped someone else would,” Edmondson […]
By James Day The tree climbing operation at Silver Falls State Park has expanded its offerings and now features tree camping. Leo Roden-Fischer, the entrepreneur who founded Tree Climbing at Silver Falls two years ago, notes “our half-day tree climbing adventures are amazing and unforgettable like people say in our 5-star reviews, but tree camping is on an entirely different […]
Marion County has added six-plus acres of forested property to Scotts Mills County Park, an addition that will greatly expand the options for park users. The 6.03 acres of heavily timbered property cost the county $450,000, with $360,000 coming via the county’s sale of Auburn Park to the Salem-Keizer School District and $90,000 from Terry Caster, who died on April […]
By James Day Kurt Berning is a born experimenter. In another era you would have seen him in greasy jeans with his head under the hood of an old Packard. Or at another time, perhaps, in his garage with a fellow tech geek developing a home computer with a four-inch screen. Instead, we find him in 2023 in his laboratory: […]
By Melissa Wagoner It may look like a carrot, parsley, parsnips or Queen Anne’s lace but gardeners and foragers should be wary because what might look like a tasty treat may in fact be poison hemlock. “This plant is very poisonous and can be fatal if ingested,” Brooke Edmunds, an OSU Extension Service Community Horticulturist, said. “Even contacting the sap […]
On Saturday, June 3, 2023 the Silverton Lions will host Silverton Free Fish Day, co-sponsored are the Silverton Kiwanis, the City of Silverton and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. This will be the 27th yearly event. The day starts at 8 a.m. through 3 p.m. The reservoir is closed during the event. Transportation to and from the reservoir […]
By James Day The annual Mother’s Day Birding and Wildflower Festival is set for Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14 at Silver Falls State Park. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days and is scheduled to coincide with World Migratory Bird Day. Silver Falls State Park officials said in a press release that the event […]
If you’ve visited Silver Falls and stopped by the Nature Store or gotten some fun facts at a discovery table, you’ve seen the Friends of Silver Falls State Park volunteers and staff in action. Friends of Silver Falls State Park is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historic and natural resources of Silver Falls State Park. Members work alongside […]
By Melissa Wagoner This spring Sustainable Silverton’s Urban Natural Resources Action Team is enlisting the help of local experts to hold an educational series about birds, bees and butterflies at The Oregon Garden. “It aligns with our mission statement and Action Team goals and the need to find a way to create more awareness about preserving or maintaining natural resources,” […]
By Melissa Wagoner One of the many benefits to visiting one of Oregon’s 108 State Parks is that most are off the beaten track. But that can also make those visitors driving electric vehicles (EVs) a little bit nervous. “Older EVs, especially the used EVs on the market today, have much lower distance ranges,” Jo Niehaus – an Oregon Parks […]
By James Day Public use of state parks continues to rebound from the pandemic, a new state report shows, with camping visits at Silver Falls approaching pre-COVID levels. Overall, Oregon State Parks experienced its second busiest camping and day-use year in history in 2022, the report says. Visitors logged 2.97 million camper nights, just 1.8 percent less than the record-breaking […]
A Silverton-area mountain biking club is getting ready for a fourth season and is looking for new riders to become members. The Silver Falls MTB started in 2020 and focuses on riders in grades 6-12. The club started with 12 riders and was at 22 last season. Club members practice Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. starting in […]
By James Day The Pudding River Watershed Council and a plethora of partners have completed a $500,000 project aimed at improving the survival rate of endangered steelhead on Abiqua Creek. The key piece of the puzzle was placing 12 “engineered log jams” on the creek on land owned by Weyerhaeuser, which also contributed the logs and boulders for the effort. […]
The annual guided first day of the year hikes will be held at Silver Falls State Park and nearly 20 other parks Jan. 1. The outings are led by rangers, and the $5 parking fee that most state parks charge will be waived. Oregon State Parks has been holding the hikes since 2012 in an effort to promote exercise and […]
By James Day The Marion County Parks Commission plans a January vote on a proposal to restore and update county parks damaged by the 2020 wildfires. County officials have been working with consultants Walker Macy and EcoNorthwest on the plan to address fire damage and upgrade Packsaddle, Minto and Niagara along Highway 22 and North Fork, Bear Creek and Salmon […]
By Melissa Wagoner Witches young and old met at dusk on Friday, Oct. 7 at the Silverton Reservoir and held the inaugural Silverton Witch Paddle. Taking to the water rather than the skies on all manner of crafts, from stand-up paddle boards to kayaks, an estimated 30 witch-garbed enthusiasts celebrated the season with camaraderie the likes of which many hadn’t […]
By Melissa Wagoner This spring the League of American Bicyclists ranked the state of Oregon as the second most bicycle friendly state in the nation – number one on the West Coast. But what do Willamette Valley cyclists think? A panel of avid cyclists from the Silverton and Mount Angel area weighed in. Laura Wanker “I’m pretty satisfied with […]
By James Day At Silver Falls State Park you can spend a lot of time looking down. Down the trail, down the canyon, down the creek and definitely, down at the waterfall. But what happens if you look up and keep looking up. There is a whole new world in the tree canopy, and now there is a way to […]
By Melissa Wagoner When award-winning writer Jonathan Case was writing his latest graphic novel, Little Monarchs, he already knew its promotion would be different than just about any book he’d ever written. “It’s a road trip book,” Jonathan said. Referring to the premise of the novel, which follows ten-year-old protagonist, Elvie, and her biologist caregiver, Flora, on a post-apocalyptic adventure […]
By Brenna Wiegand Paul’la Allen used to accompany her husband Jack to the cemeteries where he conducted graveside services. Jack Allen, a mortician and owner of Pearson-Allen-Caldwell Funeral Home in Portland, traveled around to small community cemeteries where headstones go back hundreds of years. Paul’la and young daughter Julie were never bored on these trips. “While Jack was doing the […]
