Noble Woods Park is a wooded city park in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...

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. Located on approximately along Rock Creek, the nature park with wetlands and forests is situated between West Baseline Road on the north and Southwest Borwick Road to the south near the Orenco neighborhood. The city acquired the land for the park in 1992 and opened the park in the eastern section of the city in 1998. Noble Woods has two entrances, a picnic area, and hiking trails.

History

In 1991, the city of Hillsboro asked voters to approve a bond which would pay for the purchase of nearly of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

along Rock Creek east of the city from Charlie Noble.Bodine, Harry. "Various new parks enhance Hillsboro’s livability", ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', May 15, 1997. The bond measure failed on election day, and instead local residents devised an alternative funding plan: 200 people each pledged $500 down followed by annual payments of $300 each for five years, plus $50,000 in donations from the Hillsboro Rotary Club and Baker Rock Resources to be matched by the city government. Noble also agreed to sell the land on a five-year contract for $881,000 for use as a park, a discount from the assessed value of $1 million. The city purchased the land in 1992.Fitzgibbon, Joe. "Volunteers aim to choke off English ivy's menacing creep", ''

'', June 15, 2006, Metro West Neighbors, p. 21. After acquiring the park land, the city used some funds from

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

’s open spaces

bond measure A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often, ...

to construct infrastructure at the site in 1997. In 1997, the city paid to add an overlook of Rock Creek, built at a cost of $44,200. The city opened the park on

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

in 1998. In June 2006, volunteer work groups removed the non-native English ivy from parts of the park. Another group, part of SOLV, worked to remove more ivy at Noble Woods in April 2008.

Amenities

Noble Woods includes wheelchair-accessible

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

s, bridges, stepping stones, and a stone and wrought iron constructed overlook of Rock Creek, a tributary of the Tualatin River. There is about of paved trails.Site Guide: Noble Woods Park, Hillsboro, Washington County, Oregon
''The Bird Guide''. Retrieved on September 3, 2007. One trail includes stepping stones located in the creek to allow passage over the water. In addition to hiking trails, the park has a

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

area with restrooms and a covered activity shelter. There are two entrances, one on both the north and south side, and each has paved parking. The north entrance is off East Main Street (formerly West Baseline Road) near Northeast Century Boulevard (formerly Northwest 231st Avenue), and the south entrance off Southeast Borwick Street (formerly Southwest Borwick Road). The south entrance has the picnic area that includes tables and a meadow.Peter, S., & Ewart, S. (2002). ''Exploring the Tualatin River Basin: A Nature and Recreation Guide''. Corvallis, Or:

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

Press. pp. 32-33.

Natural environment

The park's natural environment includes both upland forests and wetlands at this location where Rock Creek receives Beaverton Creek.Campbell, Polly. "Hike unlocks the secrets of Noble Woods", ''

'', October 2, 2003. The upland forest section is on the north side, with the southern part of the park lowlands that include wetlands, meadows, the creek, and some ponds. Bird species at Noble Woods includes chickadees, Winter Wren, blue herons, ducks, nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Tree Swallow, hawks, Black-headed Grosbeak, and turkey vultures, among others. Terrestrial wildlife includes

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

s, tree frogs, and raccoons among others. Additionally, the park is home to some bats.Perkins, J. Mark
“Bats Within the Urban Growth Boundary of the Portland Metropolitan Area – 2002-2003.”
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved on April 23, 2009. Aquatic life in the creek includes

crawfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

, freshwater mussels, and some smaller fish. Snowberry, Pacific dogwood, Douglas fir, red cedar, nightshade, alder, western hemlock, ash, rose hips, red osier dogwood bushes,

ninebark ''Physocarpus'', commonly called ninebark, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to North America (most species) and northeastern Asia (one species). Description ''Physocarpus'' are deciduous shrubs with peeling bark

, bittersweet nightshade, jewelweed, and maples make up the various plant species at the park. Some of the cedar trees are more than a century old.

References

External links

Hillsboro Community Foundation: ProjectsButterfly Enhancement
{{Hillsboro Oregon 1998 establishments in Oregon Parks in Hillsboro, Oregon Protected areas established in 1998

History

Amenities

Natural environment

See also

References

External links