Nature reserve · Oregon
Cottonwood Creek Natural Area
Cottonwood Creek Natural Area is a nature reserve in Oregon, at a modelled elevation of 82 m. Walker Peak stands 736 m to the east, 21 miles off. The nearest named place is Veterans Creek Natural Area, a nature reserve 0.2 miles away. Mount Hood passes 7.7 miles off.
What to expect
- Operated by
- City of Portland
How to reach it
Coordinates45.46436, -122.56418
- 7.7 mi off the Mount Hood, National
- 10.0 mi off the Historic Columbia River, National
- 12.5 mi off the JCT SR 5 VIC VANCOUVER ALONG WESTSIDE VANCOUVER LAKE TO NW LOWER RIVER RD
- 14.1 mi off the JCT CROSSING OF GIBBONS CREEK VIC WASHOUGAL TO JCT PLYMOUTH INDUSTRIAL RD
Overlooks nearby
- Jonsrud Viewpoint · 15 mi
- Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint · 15 mi
- Crown point · 16 mi
- Windblown Fir Viewpoint · 19 mi
Named places within 25 miles
Nature reserves
- Veterans Creek Natural Area: 0.2 mi
- Indian Creek Natural Area: 0.4 mi
- Foster Floodplain Natural Area: 0.9 mi
- Beggars-Tick Wildlife Refuge: 1.2 mi
- Happy Valley Nature Park: 1.8 mi
Parks
- Altamont Park: 0.5 mi
- Malden Court Community Orchard: 0.5 mi
- PlayHaven Park: 0.6 mi
- Glenwood Park: 0.8 mi
- Flavel Park: 1.1 mi
Peaks
- Mount Scott: 0.9 mi
- Kelly Butte: 2.5 mi
- Mount Talbert: 2.6 mi
- Clatsop Butte: 2.9 mi
- Scouters Mountain: 3.0 mi
Gardens
- Lents Community Garden: 1.5 mi
- Learning Gardens Laboratory: 2.0 mi
- Multnomah County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden: 2.0 mi
- Portland Memory Garden: 2.2 mi
- Kirkland Union Manor Senior Garden: 2.3 mi
Historic sites
- Robert Delgado memorial: 1.7 mi
- Heart Beacon: 2.1 mi
- Shotwell Memorial: 3.5 mi
- Laurelhurst Park: 5.0 mi
- T-Rex Memorial: 5.0 mi
Artworks
- Jesus: 2.1 mi
- The Grand Calabash: 2.9 mi
- The Reader: 3.0 mi
- Unity 2: 3.0 mi
- Stone Cloud: 3.0 mi
Attractions
- Bob's Red Mill - World Headquarters: 3.0 mi
- Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens: 3.6 mi
- Pickathon Music Festival / Pendarvis Farm: 3.8 mi
- Rock & Roll: 4.8 mi
- The Spider: 4.8 mi
Museums: 51
- Oregon Military Museum: 3.7 mi
- Zymoglyphic Museum: 4.1 mi
- Portland Puppet Museum: 4.5 mi
- Hellenic-American Cultural Center & Museum: 5.4 mi
- Oregon Rail Heritage Center: 5.6 mi
Waterfalls: 43
- Knapp Falls: 0.5 mi
- Jane Martin Waterfall: 3.6 mi
- Hidden Falls: 4.4 mi
- Singer Falls: 7.7 mi
- Willamette Falls: 8.3 mi
Picnic sites: 25
- Picnic Area B: 3.7 mi
- Picnic Area A: 3.8 mi
- Picnic Area C: 4.9 mi
- Picnic Area D: 4.9 mi
- Picnic Area E: 5.0 mi
Cliffs: 14
- Schwingus - Rocky Butte Quarry: 5.8 mi
- Rocky Butte Quarry: 5.9 mi
- Rocky Butte Quarry: 6.0 mi
- Madrone Wall: 7.3 mi
- Phantom Bluff: 7.6 mi
Beaches: 13
- Poet's Beach: 6.0 mi
- Swim beach: 8.3 mi
- Lindbergh’s Beach: 9.0 mi
- Lieser Point: 9.8 mi
- Sandy River Beach: 10.3 mi
Springs: 5
- School District Spring: 14.1 mi
- spring w/concrete cover: 15.0 mi
- Giesy Spring: 19.6 mi
- Oliver Spring: 20.8 mi
- Wahkeena Spring: 22.5 mi
Ghost towns: 4
- Fulton: 5.2 mi
- Latourell: 17.6 mi
- Bridal Veil: 20.0 mi
- Champoeg: 22.0 mi
Rest areas: 4
- French Prairie Rest Area - Southbound: 16.7 mi
- French Prairie Rest Area - Northbound: 16.8 mi
- Gee Creek Northbound Rest Area: 22.2 mi
- Gee Creek Southbound Rest Area: 23.8 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 21.1 miles of Cottonwood Creek Natural Area. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walker Peak | E 88° | 736 m | 21.0 mi |
| Elkhorn Mountain | NNE 26° | 679 m | 21.1 mi |
| Pepper Mountain | ENE 77° | 655 m | 19.4 mi |
| Lenhart Butte | ESE 112° | 638 m | 20.8 mi |
| Livingston Mountain | NNE 33° | 595 m | 17.6 mi |
| Spud Mountain | NNE 32° | 576 m | 18.7 mi |
| Angel's Rest | ENE 71° | 484 m | 21.1 mi |
| Highland Butte | SSE 159° | 470 m | 16.8 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:14 | 18:44 | 19:23 |
| June solstice | 05:22 | 20:17 | 21:03 |
| September equinox | 06:58 | 18:31 | 19:10 |
| December solstice | 07:48 | 15:41 | 16:30 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 41 | 44 | 48 | 53 | 59 | 63 | 69 | 70 | 64 | 55 | 47 | 41 |
| Precip in | 6.0 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 6.3 | 7.0 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Portland WFO, 7 mi away.
- tree-of-heaven715 obs
- Bold Jumping Spider97 obs
- Gray Hairstreak85 obs
- Western Honey Bee78 obs
- Common Whitetail77 obs
- Asian Lady Beetle70 obs
- Cross Orbweaver68 obs
- Cardinal Meadowhawk61 obs
Research-grade iNaturalist community observations within 3 km — what people have recorded, not a species inventory.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element way/131634482
Day trips start here
- Milwaukie · 4 mi
- Portland Metropolitan Area · 5 mi
- Gladstone · 6 mi
- Lake Oswego · 6 mi
- Portland · 6 mi
- Portland (Oregon)/Eastside · 6 mi
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