Erratic Rock State Natural Site is a state park in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Featuring a

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundre ...

from the

Missoula Floods The Missoula floods (also known as the Spokane floods or the Bretz floods or Bretz's floods) were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the las ...

, the small park sits atop a foothill of the

Northern Oregon Coast Range The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part ...

in Yamhill County between Sheridan and McMinnville off

Oregon Route 18 Oregon Route 18 is a state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast, near Lincoln City, and Newberg. OR 18 traverses the Salmon River Highway No. 39 of the Oregon state highway system, named after the river alongside its western ...

. The day use only park is owned and maintained by the

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), officially known (in state law) as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks. In addition, it has pro ...

History

Purchased from the Duerst and Ramsby families in 1956, the park was originally named the Erratic Rock Wayside. In 1996, the park was one of the state parks selected for closure due to budget problems. The Oregon Legislative Assembly came up with funding to avoid the closure. The park received a new historical marker along the road in June 2005 in a ceremony featuring state senator Gary George.

Location

Located off Oregon 18, Erratic Rock State Natural Site lies midway between Sheridan to the west and McMinnville to the east.Haight, Abby. White water, wild winds: The recreation is exceptional. ''

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, 18 ...

'', September 30, 2007. Erratic Rock Trail Image

Geology

The pre-historic

Missoula floods The Missoula floods (also known as the Spokane floods or the Bretz floods or Bretz's floods) were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the las ...

began in western

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

fifteen to twenty-thousand years ago.Hill, Richard L. Project takes on story of region’s ice-age cataclysms; Four states and others are weighing the best way to explain floods that scoured the Columbia River Gorge and beyond. ''

'', November 29, 2000. These large floods altered the landscape of the Columbia River valley and flooded the Willamette Valley. Many rocks were transported down the Columbia encased in icebergs and deposited from Montana through

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and Oregon when the flood waters receded and the ice melted. One of these erratics was deposited on a tall hill in the

Yamhill Valley The Yamhill River is an tributary of the Willamette River, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of the South Yamhill River and the North Yamhill River about east of McMinnville, it drains part of the Northern Oregon Coast R ...

portion of the Willamette Valley.Gault, Roy Gault. Ice-age wonder sits about an hour from Salem. ''

Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

'', July 1, 2003. Geologically, the rock comes from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and is the largest glacial erratic rock in the Willamette Valley.Jones, Melissa L. Oregon’s weird roadside attractions. ''

'', August 3, 2003. The rock is

argillite :''"Argillite" may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky.'' Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts ...

believed to be 600 million years old and originally part of the sea-floor. It is also the only rock of its type outside of Canada.

Plants and Wildlife

The Pacific Northwest climate allows for many diverse species of plants and animals to thrive. Along with the

flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi ...

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

in general, the ones that are more specific to Yamhill county are categorized as wildlife species of the northwest region. This list contains animals in four different categories including amphibians, birds,

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...

, and reptiles. Surprisingly enough,

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscu ...

have also recently been discovered in the Oregon territory as well, though their populations seem to be very small.

Oregon Conservation Efforts

The ODFW in Yamhill county is taking necessary steps toward the conservation of some of the indigenous plant and animal species. Some of the plants and animals listed on the endangered species are: the marbled murrelet ( Brachyramphus marmoratus), the Northern Spotted Owl ( Strix occidentalis caurina). Some of the endangered plants are, the Willamette daisy ( Erigeron decumbens var. decumbens), the Kincaid's Lupine ( Lupinus sulphureus ssp. Kincaidii), and the Nelson's Checker-Mallow( Sidalcea nelsoniana ), to name a few. For people interested in getting more involved in nature conservation for Oregon, more information can be found online. For a map of other regionally recognized places to view wildlife, visit the ODFW's wildlife viewing.

Hobbies and exercise

Scenery from Erratic Rock, McMinnville Oregon

There is a 0.2 mile (320 m) easy hike along a paved trail to the top of the hill past a vineyard and orchard. It is relatively level with a gradual incline, until the last 100 m which is decidedly steeper. The rock sits at the end of the path, just over the incline. The Erratic Park area also provides a venue for participating in some of the more popular hobbies related to the area. The hobbies include

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, ...

, butterfly collecting,

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

, and

geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

Birding

Birdwatchers will find a lot of resources for their hobby in Yamhill county. There are a number of bird watching sites in Yamhill county, and Erratic is one of them. For a complete list of popularly viewed Oregon birds, see the Oregon Birds checklist online. For more information on additional connection opportunities and notifications on rare bird alerts, more information is online.

Butterfly collecting

Butterfly collectors will find many different species of butterflies in the Erratic area. Some of the species include, swallowtails (

Papilioninae Papilioninae is a subfamily of the butterfly family Papilionidae. Papilioninae are found worldwide, but most species are distributed in the tropics. There are roughly 480 species, of which 27 occur in North America. Tribes This subfamily consis ...

), parnassians (

Parnassiinae The Parnassiinae or snow Apollos are a subfamily of the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae. The subfamily includes about 50 medium-sized, white or yellow species. The snow Apollos are high-altitude butterflies and are distributed across ...

), whites (

Pierinae The Pierinae are a large subfamily of pierid butterflies. The subfamily is one of several clades of butterflies often referred to as the whites. Species It includes the following species (additional species can be found under the tribes list ...

), sulphurs (

Coliadinae Coliadinae, the sulphurs or yellows, are a subfamily of butterflies with about 300 described species. There are 36 species in North America, where they range from Mexico to northern Canada. In most species, males are easily distinguished from ...

), and more. A butterfly species, the

Fender's blue butterfly Fender's blue butterfly (''Icaricia icarioides fenderi'') is an endangered subspecies of Boisduval's blue (''Icaricia icarioides)'' endemic to the Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon, United States. Thpotential rangeof the butterfly extend ...

, can also be viewed in this area. It is, however, on the endangered species list, so should not be collected. A large collection of indigenous Oregon butterflies can be seen at the

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States, is a wetlands area along the Tualatin River in Washington County, Oregon. Located on the south end of the city along Highway 219, this lowland area is a designated Important ...

to serve as a documentation of everything Oregon has to offer. Collection of animals and plants is not permitted within Oregon's state parks.

Photography

The opportunities for photography vary from nature-focused to landscape.

Geocaching

Geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

is an outdoor recreational treasure hunt. Cache availability and sizes are dependent on those who place and maintain them. Erratic Rock State Park features at least one traditional size cache. Erratic Park is a participant to the geocaching alternative sport, , which was created and is hosted by Yamhill County and City of McMinnville Parks and Recreation. Tanglebox is an outdoor summertime treasure hunt. Tangleboxes have been hidden in eleven different Yamhill Park sites. The tanglebox is clearly labeled, but hidden.

Tourism

In addition to the boulder, the hilltop features views of the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south ru ...

and the valley, including

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

and farms.Church, Foster. Oregon offtrack: The real northwest valley gems: monastery and museum. ''

'', June 20, 2004. There is a hike along a paved trail to the top of the hill past a vineyard and orchard that provides bird watching opportunities.Erratic Rock State Natural Site unique to the United States. ''

'', September 10, 2002. Operated by the state parks department, the park is a day use only facility that includes an interpretive sign and picnic table at the park.
Erratic Rock is situated in the

Yamhill County, Oregon Yamhill County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 107,722. The county seat is McMinnville. Yamhill County was named after the Yamhelas, members of the Kalapuya Tribe. Yamhill Cou ...

Winery district. There are numerous places for wine tasting for

Oregon wine The state of Oregon in the United States has established an international reputation for its production of wine, ranking fourth in the country behind California, Washington, and New York. Oregon has several different growing regions within the s ...

within a 10-mile radius.

References

External links

* {{authority control State parks of Oregon Willamette Valley Parks in Yamhill County, Oregon 1956 establishments in Oregon Glacial erratics of Oregon Landforms of Yamhill County, Oregon