Update: Portland parks will deploy ‘park greeters’ to educate visitors about social distancing, closures.

After a cloudy start to spring the sun is finally coming out, tempting Portlanders to crowd public parks, a trend that has raised concerns about Oregon’s ability to slow the spread of the coronavirus through social distancing.

After a warm and sunny Sunday, reports came in from around the city that throngs of people crowded parks, bike paths and sidewalks, making the mandatory six feet of social distance – required by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown at all public spaces – an extremely difficult task.

David Coseo, who lives next to the northern entrance of Mt. Tabor Park, said he saw roughly 100 people pass by his house in an hour Sunday. That included runners, cyclists, families and large groups of people, often clustered close together.

“It's sad, frustrating and frightening,” Coseo said. “Some few people were at least wearing masks. But most seem oblivious to the fact that they are walking through a constant cloud of exhaled breath.”

Jonathan Maus, publisher of Bike Portland, reported crowds of people at outdoor spaces across the city Sunday, including the Eastbank Esplanade, Mt. Tabor and neighborhood streets in North and Northeast Portland.

Oregon is nearing its peak for the novel coronavirus, updated projections from University of Washington researchers show. It’s more evidence that by following Gov. Kate Brown’s social distancing restrictions, Oregonians have helped the state escape the worst of the global pandemic – as long as people continue to stay home, Rob Davis reported Monday for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The Portland Parks and Recreation Department has already closed roads and parking lots within some city parks, but public officials otherwise have not taken any action to stem crowds. The parks department has not announced efforts to enforce the governor’s social distance mandate beyond putting up the required signs at park entrances and exits.

Local officials hesitate to consider closing Portland’s public parks, noting how important they are as a way to stay sane during a difficult time.

“Going to a park and having an open space is pretty crucial to maintain mental and physical health right now, because there’s not a lot of other options,” Portland Parks and Recreation spokesman Mark Ross said. “The onus is on the public to adhere to these public health guidelines.”

The parks department has said it’s following the guidance of public health officials and the governor’s office, and will “continue evaluating if any other measures are needed.”

READ MORE: Oregon’s outdoor recreation is effectively closed

Though the CDC and Gov. Brown recommend six feet of social distance when recreating outside, some health experts don’t think that’s enough.

Richard Corsi, a Portland State University dean who has studied the coronavirus pandemic and the spread of COVID-19, recommends people stay 20 feet away from each other when they’re outdoors.

“I don’t think we’re being safe enough,” Corsi told The Oregonian/OregonLive's Aimee Green last week. “People need to understand that the airborne route, that’s a serious transmission pathway.”

Maintaining 20 feet of social distance would be all but impossible on most of Portland’s most popular trails and bike paths. At Forest Park, where some trails are hardly more than a foot wide, there’s a growing concern about sunny day crowds.

At one point over the weekend, some 90 cars were parked at the Germantown Road Trailhead, according to the Forest Park Conservancy, a nonprofit charged with maintaining 80 miles of trails in the 5,200 acre park. A busy summer day typically only draws around 50 cars to the trailhead, they said.

The conservancy released a letter Monday, warning visitors that trail maintenance will cease during the coronavirus outbreak, as trail crews stay home and volunteer work parties are canceled.

With so many parks and trails closed around the region, the few places that remain open, like Forest Park, are seeing even more people, Renée Myers, executive director of the Forest Park Conservancy, said in the letter.

“This is having a negative impact on our beloved Forest Park, and potentially putting community members at risk because the narrow width of many of the trails does not support the minimum of six feet of physical distance as recommended by public health officials,” Myers said.

The conservancy is now recommending people stick to areas like the Leif Erickson Trail, which is about 12 feet wide, or the Firelane trails, which can be up to seven feet wide. Narrower areas, like the famed Wildwood Trail, might not be safe.

People golf at the Eastmoreland Golf Course in southeast Portland amid the coronavirus outbreak. Mark Friesen/The Oregonian

At more wide-open parks, however, social distancing is easier. At North Portland’s Peninsula Park on Sunday, dozens of people enjoyed the afternoon lounging far apart in separate areas of the park, and keeping a wide berth while walking or biking. Several wore face masks.

But some groups still congregated, and several people gathered to play on the park’s basketball court, although it’s technically closed following Gov. Brown’s mandate, which shut down all playgrounds and sports courts in Oregon.

Crowds at a park can change drastically over the course of the week, day, or afternoon, making it difficult to avoid other people. And even if you try to maintain a safe social bubble, others can easily walk or run inside of it.

The issue has been a topic of conversation lately for Friends of Mt. Tabor Park, a nonprofit that helps maintain the Southeast Portland park. Board members said they have noticed a growing number of park users on sunny days and during the afternoons, but so far, they’re not too concerned.

“I’ve been really impressed with the way that people have been behaving,” board member Linda Fogerson said. “I’m seeing that a lot of people are using social distancing.”

Fogerson said she typically walks through the park in the mornings to avoid crowds, when she sees people using the edges of sidewalks and nodding politely when they keep their distance.

But Steve Law, another board member, said he’s seen big crowds in parts of the park, and witnessed some situations where people couldn’t stay six feet apart, especially as joggers ran around them.

For now, the organization is kindly reminding people to keep their distance. If things are too crowded, the organization urges people to turn around and go home – even if you just drove across town to get there.

“I think that if you are in a situation where you can’t keep six feet apart, that’s how you know that you probably need to find another place to walk,” Fogerson said.

That echoes Gov. Brown’s mandate, as well as messages from public land agencies that have closed public recreation sites across Oregon.

Portlanders who continue to visit parks will simply need to assess the risks of doing so, parks spokesman Ross said.

“I think we’re all adjusting to a new temporary reality,” Ross said. “People have to choose to modify their behavior on their own.”

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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