Help create a park at Punchbowl Falls!

[Splintercat]

You probably know about Punchbowl Falls on Eagle Creek, but do you know about Punch Bowl Falls on the Hood River? It's a very cool spot that has served as a popular local swimming and fishing hole for more than a century, but doesn't see too many hikers. That's because the land around the falls has been in private ownership since the Hood River Valley was settled, and visiting the spectacular falls overlook meant walking on informal boot paths on private property. If you do go there, you are greeted with this amazing view of Mount Hood rising beyond the falls:



The very exciting news is that Hood River County is considering purchasing a 100-acre preserve that has been assembled over the past nine years by the Western Rivers Conservancy. But the county needs to hear from the public to know if the idea is supported, and have set up a web page with a Doodle poll to make it really easy to weigh in:

Punch Bowl Falls Proposal

The second of two public meetings on the idea is scheduled for February 10 if you live in the Hood River area -- the first meeting occurred in early January. The website has a map that should help you better understand the proposal, and weigh in on the Doodle poll, as well. For waterfall lovers, this proposal would also include beautiful Dead Point Falls, a tributary that drops into the massive amphitheater created by Punch Bowl Falls.

If you love waterfalls parks, take a few moments to weigh in!

-Tom

[viking]

The survey took me less than 10 minutes to fill out. Adding your name and stating your support for public ownership and access is important. If you think this is important please fill out the survey.
Thanks Tom for the link.
Keith

[Splintercat]

Keith, thanks for taking the time to do that! They've had a very good response, but more is definitely better..!

Tom

[miah66]

Thanks Tom for the work you're doing on this. I also filled out the survey. What a cool place!

[Splintercat]

Here's the announcement for tonight's community workshop in Hood River -- well worth joining in if you'd like to help shape the future of Punch Bowl Falls as a new park!

Punch Bowl Falls - Community Forum 2

This is the final workshop in what is a very short planning effort on this project. I spoke to the project lead last week, and they've got some very exciting ideas for trails and permanent public access to the river and falls, but need to wrap up their proposal by mid-March in order to help move a county grant proposal forward. Great time to weigh in with your ideas!

Tom

[Splintercat]

A couple of updates on the Punchbowl Falls project are in order! First, I posted a block article a few weeks ago with more info on the area, should you be interested in exploring:

A chance to save Punchbowl Falls!

It's a very cool area to poke around in, especially this time of year when you'll generally have the place to yourself. Be sure to follow the path to the confluence of the East and West forks of the Hood River - a magical spot! Here's an iPhone view from last weekend:



The other update is that I toured the site with Heather Staten, who has been leading the community effort in Hood River to fund public acquisition of the site from the Western Rivers Conservancy. We walked a lot of potential trail alignments, and our hope is that TKO can help her citizens organization build a loop trail through the area in the event it becomes a county park -- and we should know the answer on that in the next several months.

Tomorrow evening, I'm heading to Hood River to meet with Heather's advisory committee to hear about their overall proposal for the site -- I'll report back, of course. If you live in Hood River (or are inclined to show up), the meeting is at the Public Library at 5:30 PM. I'm sure visitors would be welcome.

More to come!

Tom

[Splintercat]

Another update from the Punchbowl Falls Park effort -- public forum tonight in Hood River, if you'd like to learn more!
_________________

Punch Bowl Falls County Park Visioning Project

Tonight! Public Forum Thursday March 12 at 6 p.m.
at 601 State Street, Board of Commissioners Meeting Room

Over the last month, the Park Advisory Committee has been hard at work turning the vast quantity of public input we have had on this project into a concept park plan. We will be presenting a draft plan for public review at a meeting tonight March 12 at 6 pm in the Board of Commissioners meeting room, 601 State Street. We know that many of you are passionate about this property. We hope that you come to see the proposed plan and offer your comments and suggestions. The amazing Pierce Hodges really captured the wonder of the place with his video taken just last weekend:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGkAXOZsfM

Also check out Tom Kloster's great blog post on the project with lots of beautiful pictures.

Write a letter

This is a once in a generation opportunity to save a magical spot for public use. Community support is what will make it a reality. We need support letters to submit with the County's grant application for acquistion funding from Oregon Parks and Recreation. Share the story of why you love the property and why it should be a public park. Letters can be sent to [email protected].


photo by Peter Marbach

Need more info?

Hood River County Webpage on Punch Bowl Falls

Western Rivers Conservancy

Project Coordinator, Heather Staten, 541-490-5225, heather @ hrvrc.org

[Splintercat]

If you've been following the Punchbowl Park project, the latest news is that the Hood River County Commission gave the go-ahead last week for their staff to take the proposal to the State of Oregon for a proposal grant to purchase the site. At this point, it would be hard to imagine the state passing on this a second time, given the community support and excellent park plan that volunteers have produced in partnership with Hood River County -- I'll report back on that, but the decision is months away, now.

I posted this interview with Heather Staten on my blog yesterday -- she has been the driving force behind the project and provides some background insights into how this has all come together and what lies ahead. At the bottom of the article is a link to a PDF of the parks plan -- well worth reading if you love that area!

Tom

[sprengers4jc]

After seeing your post, we visited this place yesterday on our way back from Rainy Lake. Great little place! Hope to see the actual park become a reality. Here are a couple of pics and a GPS track for those interested.

[Splintercat]

Hey, thanks for visiting! It is a cool little spot! The tributary falls is simply known as "Dead Point Falls" or "Dead Point Creek Falls", in both cases using the name of the creek (though there doesn't seem to be a "Dead Point" that the creek draws it's name from!)

Tom