View across the Willamette to Elk Rock Island from Bishop's Close (bobcat)

• Hikes to this destination:
  • Elk Rock Island Hike   (TH | <—   —> | LOG)

• Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
• Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
• Latitude, Longitude: 45.4362, -122.6480
• Elevation: 35 feet

Description

Most of the year, Elk Rock Island is not an island at all since it is connected to the mainland by a rocky channel that can be stepped across except at times of high water. In geological terms, this is the oldest surface rock in the Portland area, the island being the remnants of a 40 million year-old undersea volcano. Native oaks and madrones crown a forested remnant donated to the City of Portland by businessman Peter Kerr in 1940, and officially known as Peter Kerr Park. Before Kerr's donation, the island had been a riverside playground with a dance hall and other attractions, one perhaps being a brothel. The dance hall burned down in a great conflagration in 1916. Now you can walk through native woodland and see vernal pools rimmed by wildflowers with views west to Elk Rock itself, once a Native American hunting site where elk were herded over the cliff to their deaths as in a buffalo jump.

More Links

• Elk Rock Island (Portland Parks & Recreation)
• Walking to an Island: Elk Rock Island Natural Area (The Intertwine)
• Elk Rock Island (Peaceful Places in Portland)
• Elk Rock Island (Things to Do in Portland With Children)
• Elk Rock Island expedition (cyclotram)
• Portland Park Series: Elk Rock Island (KATU.com)
• Elk Rock Island 2 (Milwaukie Rules!)
• Friends of Elk Rock Island (City of Milwaukie)
• A few facts about Elk Rock Island (Rich Morgan)
• "Rumors on the Rocks: Elk Rock Island’s mysterious and mischievous past" (Chelsia A. Rice)
• "Disastrous Blaze Visits Rock Island" (Milwaukie Historical Society)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)