Updated: September 2009.

Once a dairy farm Powell Butte is a lovely east-side Nature park.

Powell Butte, an extinct cinder cone volcano, located near the headwaters of Johnson Creek is comprised of 608 acres of meadow-land and forest.

Before the turn of the century, a large meadow area was cleared atop Powell Butte, an orchard was planted and eventually cattle grazed contentedly around this picturesque hillside dairy. In 1925 the City of Portland purchased the land as a site for future water reservoirs. A mere 56 years later they finally built a 50-million gallon underground reservoir that serves as the hub of the Water Bureau's distribution system. In 1987 Portland officially established Powell Butte as a nature park and the park was subsequently opened in 1990.

This Butte is an oasis of nature right in the heart of Southeast Portland. From its meadowy crest you can spot deer or coyotes, spot a harrier hunting overhead, or you might listen to the owls hoot, the woodpeckers knocking about in the trees, or the frogs croaking away in the moist corners. This hill is awash with native animals including rabbits, ring-necked pheasants, Gray and Douglas squirrels, raccoons, gray foxes, skunks, chipmunks, bats, Northern Harriers, and black-tailed deer. Groves of wild hawthorn trees grace the southern slopes, stately stands of Western red cedar, and Douglas Fir encircle the hill like a sylvan crown. From its summit one can feel the beauty of the Western Oregon forests and fields. All around one can see the Oregon and Washington Cascades, volcanoes, downtown Portland, and other local buttes.

Trail conditions: paved and gravel/dirt paths. Rating: easy

Elevation gain/loss: 300 ft.

Distance: 1.67 mile loop, but there are over nine miles of trails to explore on Powell Butte.

Trail directions: From the visitors’ information kiosk the Mountain View Trail heads south through grasslands and then turns to climb .6 miles to the top of the butte. There are a number of trails that circle this butte that are worth exploring, since the hillock is round you’ll always return from whence you came, sort of...

TriMet access: Take bus # 9 to Gresham Transit Center. Get out at the SE 164th & SE Powell Blvd. Walk west to SE 162nd and turn left towards Powell Butte. Follow the paved trail south into the park.

3D view of Powell Butte with SE 162nd & Powell intersection in the foreground.

(Suggested 1.67 mile hike is marked.)

Mountain view Trail ascending Powell Butte