Errol Heights Park Planting Event

Errol Heights Park is hosting a community tree planting event this Saturday, October 17, from 9 AM to 12 PM. It's a morning spent getting your hands dirty for a park that's gone through a lot of work to get to where it is now.

If you haven't spent much time there, Errol Heights is a 16-acre reimagined park that protects and restores natural wetland and riparian areas. The whole place has been updated with improved trails, expanded paths, and new play and picnic areas on the upper plateau. It's the kind of spot that works as both a nature preserve and a place to actually hang out, so adding more trees fits right into what it's meant to be.

The land has a bit of a story behind it. The city acquired it in 1966, and in 1999 Barbara Schnabel, widow of George Schnabel, sold her home and 2.32 acres to Portland Parks & Recreation. George had spent more than 30 years building a home and workshop from salvaged heavy timbers from Portland's old warehouses, all while creating a landscape as a sanctuary for people and wildlife. That spirit of stewardship is exactly what this planting event carries forward.

More recently, the park has seen a major overhaul. In 2018, retired Parks Commissioner Amanda Fritz appointed a Community Advisory Committee to update the 2005 Master Plan; Mayer|Reed developed the new design and Paul Brothers Inc. took on the construction. The $12 million project was funded through System Development Charges for Parks, Trails and Natural Areas. In 2021, artists Terresa White and Mike Suri installed a 15-foot sculpture on the upper plateau: three tall steel forms that collect and drain rainwater, each topped with a bronze mask combining human faces with the park's flora and fauna. It's a good reminder of the connection between the people who use the park and the nature it protects.

The planting runs from 9 AM to 12 PM on Saturday, October 17, at Errol Heights Park on SE Tenino Drive.