Eugene is one of the only cities around that has a place where visitors can find 67 different families gathered in 209 acres. The catch: These aren’t human families but families of plants, and they can be found at Mount Pisgah Arboretum, one of Eugene’s greatest hiking and outdoor recreation spots.
Mount Pisgah Arboretum is a stunning natural park that lies
between the Coast Fork of the Willamette River and the slopes of Mount Pisgah. Less than a
15 minute drive from Eugene, the park provides hiking trails in a diverse setting everyday from sunrise to sunset. Admission is free and paths, picnic tables and homemade benches are strewn throughout the park, providing visitors ample opportunities to
appreciate nature.
At a park this large and this
diverse, nature has a lot to offer.
“It’s close to town, a good workout, has a variety of ecosystems and views, a good variety of trails and my dog loves it too,” said Outdoor Program Coordinator Dan Geiger. “The variety of habitat — river, meadow, wooded etc. — make Pisgah an excellent place to see a large variety of native species in a single walk.”
At Mount Pisgah Arboretum, nature emerges as something real, tangible and continuously interesting. Visitors can expect to see various forms of plant and animal life. The arboretum is home to deer, foxes, coyote, bats and a large population of bird species.
Bird watching is a main attraction at the park, especially during the early morning hours. Resident and migratory song birds and fowl fill the arboretum’s four distinct habitats. In the spring, Red-eyed Vireo rest in the Riparian habitat while Chestnut-backed Chickadee chirp their way through the seasons in the Coniferous area.
The arboretum is also well-known for hosting nature walks that showcase the park’s abundance of wildflowers. Located in the River Meadow area, the two-acre Patricia M. Baker Memorial Wildflower Garden is an especially large draw.
On Sunday, the arboretum will celebrate these blooming beauties at the park’s Wildflower Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival will feature a wildflower display, music, arts and crafts, a children’s activity area, a plant sale and guided hikes every half hour.
The hikes will take place on the park’s elaborate maze of trails — eight miles in all — that wind through its ecological habitats. On any given day, visitors can walk on broad dirt trails alongside a river, a small trickling creek, a riparian meadow and a wildflower garden. Near the top of the park, paths become rocky trails that guide hikers through a white oak savanna.
Hikers looking for a challenge can attempt Mount Pisgah’s steep summit climb. This path winds up the mountain and spits hikers out on an airy grass hill with great views of the surrounding areas. While this route averages about one to two hours round-trip, the view at the top is well worth the exertion.
The Outdoor Program hosts
a Mount Pisgah hiking group every Wednesday from 4 p.m.
to 6 p.m. Geiger said dogs are also welcome.
The natural beauty of Mount Pisgah is obvious the moment visitors arrive. But the real beauty of this location is in its ability to offer something new with each visit.
“I go about once a week,” Geiger said. “I love to watch it change over the seasons and there’s a lot a variety, so I don’t get bored with the same old road to the top.”

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