Mount Pisgah is a small mountain (

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

) in Lane County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, rising above the surrounding

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a 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 east, the ...

to a maximum elevation of . It was named after the biblical Mount Pisgah. It is situated between the Coast Fork and Middle Fork of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

, southeast of their confluence. Springfield is immediately north of Mount Pisgah, and the city of

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

is about west. It is the site of the Howard Buford Recreation Area as well as the non-profit

Mount Pisgah Arboretum The Mount Pisgah Arboretum () is a non-profit arboretum and botanical garden located within the Howard Buford Recreation Area (), between the Coast Fork of the Willamette River and the slopes of Mount Pisgah (Lane County, Oregon), Mount Pisgah ne ...

at its base.

Geology

The hill consists of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

or its intrusive equivalent

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

. Small crystals of calcite and various

zeolite Zeolites are a group of several microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a meta ...

minerals are often seen where the rock outcrops, especially near the summit. Specific minerals found in the area include

agate Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of d ...

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

heulandite Heulandite is the name of a series of tectosilicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, heulandite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a seri ...

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

malachite Malachite () is a copper Carbonate mineral, carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the chemical formula, formula Basic copper carbonate, Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often for ...

, mesolite, and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

. Mount Pisgah is known for its diverse plant and animal life. The area features a mix of oak savanna, meadows, and woodlands. Wildflowers are abundant during the spring.

Recreation

Several hiking trails are maintained by the Lane County Parks Department on Mount Pisgah. The summit is accessible by a steep trail from a parking area near the base of the hill. Several other trails make their way through the adjacent arboretum and up the slopes. The summit offers a panoramic view of the southern Willamette Valley and includes a bronze relief sculpture (a memorial for

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...

's son Jed) illustrating the surrounding topography and identifying many nearby geographic features. Mt Pisgah sign

Arboretum

The

covers at the base of Mount Pisgah and offers visitors of trails through natural riverside habitat and hundreds of cataloged plant species. As of May 2020, admission is $5 per car and permits can be purchased at a self-service pay station, card only.

Controversy

Wildish Land Company owns of undisturbed land adjacent to the park and has filed an Oregon Measure 37 claim. The claim seeks either compensation of $15 million for diminution in land value caused by state and county land use regulations enacted since Wildish acquired the property, or in the alternative, a waiver of offending land use regulations enacted since its acquisition. The land is zoned for gravel production with an estimated value, under current zoning, at around $5 million. As an alternative to development or compensation, some have suggested the controversy represents a historic opportunity to purchase the land, integrate it with the existing park, and eventually link the expanded Howard Buford Recreation Area with other undeveloped land as part of a greater Eugene greenway. On December 6, 2006, Lane County approved Wildish's Measure 37 claim, waiving non-exempt offending regulations enacted since Wildish acquired the property. The Oregon Department of Administrative Services has not yet ruled on Wildish's state application. Before any development may happen, Wildish must still receive a waiver from the state, and it must still submit a development application to the county.

References

External links

Howard Buford Recreation AreaVIDEO: A walk through Mount Pisgah Arboretum ''The Register-Guard''Mt. Pisgah ArboretumMount Pisgah East Loop HikeFriends of Buford Park & Mount Pisgah
{{Authority control Landmarks in Oregon Hills of Oregon Landforms of Lane County, Oregon