Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

When a fellow hiker and I crossed paths on one of many wooden walkways that wound through fields of wildflowers, we both smiled under the mid-spring sun, soaking in the purples and pinks all around us.

“It’s beautiful out here,” I said.

"Well everything should really start blooming in a week,” she replied.

It seemed incredible to me that this gorgeous scene could get any nicer, but as I watched bees buzz from flower to flower I saw the closed blossoms everywhere, ready to burst open in due time.

Camassia Natural Area is a small public park in West Linn, just across the Willamette River from Oregon City. For most of the year its grassy meadows and forested paths make a pretty place for a stroll, but in mid to late spring it comes alive as one of the most beautiful wildflower walks in the Willamette Valley.



Wildflowers in the park typically bloom between late April and early May, and this year they appear to be right on schedule.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Named for the common camas flower, the nature preserve is home to more than 300 plant species including oak woodlands and several species of wildflowers. The white rock larkspur is one of the rarer species of flower found in the park, and its populations closely monitored by The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that manages the land.



There are several entrances to the park (including one at West Linn High School), but the main trailhead is at a small neighborhood parking area at the end of Walnut Street near Interstate 205. It's also a short walk from downtown Oregon City.



The loop hike is a little over a mile in all, with side trails leading to a pond, a neighborhood trailhead and the high school. Wooden walkways lead through it all, passing through quiet forest and an open meadow that’s home to all the wildflowers.

While most wildflower hikers are drawn to fields in the Columbia River Gorge and alpine meadows on the Cascade Mountains, Camassia is a rare resource much closer to Portland and the surrounding suburbs. It’s a place to walk and wonder, where spring beauty is found close at hand.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB



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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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