Blue Lake Regional Park is a public park in Fairview, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. The park, near the south shore of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, it ...

, includes many covered and uncovered picnic areas, playing fields for sports such as

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, a cross country course (home course for

Portland State Vikings Portland State Vikings is the nickname of the NCAA-affiliated, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Portland State University of Portland, Oregon. The Vikings compete at the NCAA Division I level in basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, t ...

cross country) and infrastructure related to lake recreation including swimming, boating, and fishing. Encompassing wooded areas, three ponds, and a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

in addition to the lake, the park is frequented by migrating birds and other wildlife. Paved paths run through the park, which is near the

40-Mile Loop The 40-Mile Loop is a partially completed greenway trail around and through Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was proposed in 1903 by the Olmsted Brothers architecture firm as part of the development of Forest Park. One greenway expe ...

hiking and biking trail. Park vegetation includes cottonwoods,

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

s, and other trees and shrubs as well as wetland plants such as

cattails ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ...

. The lake, which lies in a small artificial

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, has no natural

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

or outlet. Water normally enters the lake only from rain,

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow or terrestrial runoff) is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to ''channel runoff'' (or ''stream flow''). It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other ...

, and

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

seepage. Excessive

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

life and

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

have sometimes restricted the use of the lake, and its maintenance includes plant control and addition of fresh water from municipal wells.

Location

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

, the regional government for the Oregon part of the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...

, manages the park. It lies in Fairview near the south shore of the

, northwest of Troutdale and east of the center of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Marine Drive and the

hiking and biking trail pass north of the park, between it and the river. Northwest of the park is McGuire Island, in the Columbia River at , while Chinook Landing Marine Park lies to the northeast across Marine Drive at . South of Blue Lake beyond Interlachen Lane is

Fairview Lake Fairview Lake is a natural lake located in Palmyra Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania in the United States, just south of Lake Wallenpaupack. The lake has a maximum depth of . The lake is home to one of the most distinctive land forms in the ...

at , which drains into the

Columbia Slough The Columbia Slough is a narrow waterway, about long, in the floodplain of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source in the Portland, Oregon, Portland suburb of Fairview, Oregon, Fairview, the Columbia Slough meanders west ...

History

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

stopped here on his return trip in April 1806, and learned from members of the Nichaqwli (or Nechacokee or Ne-cha-co-lee) of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

. The site was a private park from the 1920s to 1960 when

purchased it. Metro took over the operation of Multnomah County's parks on January 1, 1994, and received ownership of them in 1996. A dance hall existed until after Multnomah County's takeover.

Amenities

Amenities include public restrooms,

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

accessibility for most areas, trails, parking, sheltered picnic areas and tables, interpretive signs, and

concession Concession may refer to: General * Concession (contract) (sometimes called a concession agreement), a contractual right to carry on a certain kind of business or activity in an area, such as to explore or develop its natural resources or to opera ...

s. Activities at the park include hiking, biking, cross country running, swimming, boating, fishing, wildlife viewing, volleyball,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, disc golf, archery, and softball.Houck, pp. 284–85 The park has a water-spray playground of about that uses municipal well water that is treated and recycled at the park. Sculptures at the west end of the lake commemorate former

Chinook Chinook may refer to: Chinook peoples The name derives from a settlement of Indigenous people in Oregon and Washington State. * Chinookan peoples, several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Chinook Indian Nation, an organiza ...

villages along the Columbia River. For a fee, Metro offers the use of a structure called The Lake House for banquets, conferences, receptions, recitals, and weddings. The

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is a state government, government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. The agency operates hatcheries, i ...

stocks Blue Lake annually with trout. Wetland plants near ponds north and west of the lake include cattails and rushes that provide habitat for marsh birds such as

red-winged blackbird The red-winged blackbird (''Agelaius phoeniceus'') is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and ...

Swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

s are common in summer, and

American goldfinch The American goldfinch (''Spinus tristis'') is a small North American bird in the finch Family (biology), family. It is Bird migration, migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of th ...

es and other migratory birds visit the park in large number. Cottonwoods,

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous ...

s, willows, and

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

s grow in the park as do many shrubs including

elderberries ''Sambucus'' is a genus of between 20 and 30 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, with the flowers as elderflower, and the fruit as elderberry. Description Elders are most ...

spiraea ''Spiraea'' , sometimes spelled spirea in common names, and commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes, is a genus of about 80 to 100 species

, and

Oregon-grape ''Berberis aquifolium'', the Oregon grape or holly-leaved barberry, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae. It is an evergreen shrub growing up to tall and wide, with pinnate leaves consisting of spiny leafle ...

. The park is frequented by

muskrat The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

s, and the occasional

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

Hydrology

The lake, which covers of the park, lies within its own drainage basin of , bounded on the north by a

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

along the river and by the raised bed of Interlachen Lane on the east and west and a sandstone ridge on the south. Lying above sea level, the lake measures along its east-west axis and along its north-south axis. Although its maximum depth is , about half of the lake is deep or less. Its shoreline totals . Having no surface inlet, the lake receives water naturally only from rain, surface runoff, and groundwater seepage. In addition, water from municipal wells is sometimes pumped into the lake during the dry season; otherwise the lake level might fall as much as in late summer. Three small ponds, connected to the lake and to one another by

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

s, lie just north of the lake at its west end. Outflow from lake and ponds occurs only when workers release water through a concrete

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

to Salmon Creek, in a separate drainage basin to the east. From there the water flows into the Columbia River.Pfauth, p. 11–16 The closed nature of the lake contributes to reduced water quality. Invasive

s such as Eurasian watermilfoil and curlyleaf pondweed have sometimes restricted use of the lake for swimming, fishing, and boating.Pfauth, p. 7 In 1998, the

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is the chief regulatory agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for protecting and enhancing the state's natural resources and managing sanitary and toxic waste disposa ...

(DEQ) added the lake to its list of impaired water bodies because it violated the state's standard for

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

nity and supported too many aquatic weeds and

. As of June 2008, efforts to control weeds without damaging favored plants and other aspects of the lake were continuing.

References

Works cited

* Houck, Mike, and Cody, M.J., eds. (2000). ''Wild in the City''. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. . *Pfauth, Mary, and Sytsma, Mark (2004)
"Integrated Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan for Blue Lake, Fairview, Oregon"
(pdf). Portland, Oregon: Center for Lakes and Reservoirs, Environmental Sciences and Resources, Portland State University. Retrieved on January 1, 2009.

External links

Blue Lake Regional Park , Metro

Interlachen Home Owners Association
{{authority control Lakes of Oregon Parks in Multnomah County, Oregon Parks in Oregon College cross country courses in the United States Cross country running courses in Oregon Portland State Vikings Landforms of Multnomah County, Oregon Lakes of Multnomah County, Oregon Wetlands of Oregon