page_title: Tryon Creek
section_title: Parks
hierarchical_section_title: Tryon Creek / Parks
caption_attribution_description: English: Nature center and shelter at Tryon Creek State Natural Area in Portland, Oregon, United States
context_page_description: Tryon Creek is a 4.85-mile tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about 6.5 square miles in Multnomah and Clackamas counties. The stream flows southeast from the Tualatin Mountains through the Multnomah Village neighborhood of Portland and the Tryon Creek State Natural Area to the Willamette in the city of Lake Oswego. Parks and open spaces cover about 21 percent of the watershed, while single-family homes dominate most of the remainder. The largest of the parks is the state natural area, which straddles the border between the two cities and counties.
  The bedrock under the watershed includes part of the last exotic terrane, a chain of seamounts, acquired by the North American Plate as it moved west during the Eocene. Known as the Waverly Hills Formation, it lies buried under ash and lava from later volcanic eruptions, sediments from flooding and erosion, and layers of wind-blown silt. Two dormant volcanoes from the Boring Lava Field are in the Tryon Creek watershed.
context_section_description: Parks in the Tryon Creek watershed include Tryon Creek State Natural Area, Oregon's only metropolitan state park. At about 630 acres (250 ha), the natural area is much larger than the watershed's other parks.
  The state park includes a 3-mile (5 km) bicycle path that runs along Terwilliger Boulevard on the east edge of the park as part of the Portland metropolitan area's system of greenway trails known as the 40-Mile Loop. Equestrians can ride through the woods on horse trails totaling about 5 miles (8 km). Hikers can use the bike path, horse trails, and about 8 miles (13 km) of hiking trails. A paved loop trail of about 0.35-mile (0.56 km), furnished with drinking fountains and interpretive signs, can accommodate wheelchairs. A park building called the Nature Center houses a gift shop, a large classroom, space for educational exhibits, and a play area for small children.
  Tryon Creek, which flows through the middle of the state park, also runs through Marshall Park, a modified natural area of about 26 acres (11 ha) in a canyon in the hills northwest of Mount Sylvania. It features hiking trails, a playground, picnic tables, a waterfall, and a stone bridge over the creek. Other parks in the watershed include West Portland Park, a natural area of about 15 acres (6 ha), and Maricara Park, a natural area of about 17 acres (7 ha). Metro plans to acquire additional land along the creek to add to the parks.
caption: Nature Center at Tryon Creek State Natural Area
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