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Label:
Park
Parking Hours and Rates, Parking Permits
Visit our Parking Guide for Parks for more information.
Boater Parking Permit Available - February through May
Seasonal parking permits are available for boaters who use Willamette Park to launch. These permits are only valid for vehicles with trailers, in marked "Trailers Only" spaces. Permits are valid February through May and are available on a first-come, first-served basis ($75).
Purchase digital PP&R parking permits
Cathedral Park Nature Patch
Completed in 2024, this floral masterpiece is composed of several natural garden spaces at the top of the park under the St. Johns Bridge. This horticultural and ecological showcase features a wholly unique arrangement of flowering native and ornamental plants as well as log and basalt elements that complement the beautiful bridge steps celebration venue, performance stage, and picnic nooks.
Portland Parks & Recreation adds nature patches to developed parks to provide natural experiences for people and habitat for wildlife. Nature patches are unique natural gardens that support native pollinators and offer fun opportunities for education and exploration. Learn more on our Nature Patch program page.
Cathedral Park Tree Tour
Take a virtual tour of the trees at Cathedral Park
Cathedral Park Projects
St. Johns Bridge Repair Project
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is improving the long-term safety and lifespan of the St. Johns Bridge by repairing the concrete on the pier columns and arches under the bridge. Repairing the concrete will protect the bridge's steel internal frame and reinforcements from corrosion, maintaining the service life of this beloved Portland Historic Landmark. For more information, visit ODOT's St. Johns Bridge Repair Project webpage.
N. Bradford Street Cleanup Project
Testing by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has detected the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in shallow soil around the North Bradford Street right-of way and a portion of Cathedral Park.
DEQ has confirmed that the level of PCBs detected in Cathedral Park do not pose an immediate risk to public health. DEQ and the Oregon Health Authority have not made any recommendations to the City of Portland to alter park activities.
Peninsula Iron Works, which may have contributed to the PCB contamination in this area, has entered into a consent order with DEQ to address areas with the highest concentrations of PCBs.
For the most up to date information on this project and answers to frequently asked questions, visit the DEQ Cleanup: N. Bradford Street Project webpage.
DEQ Contact: NBradfordSt@deq.oregon.gov
Map
Year acquired
1968
Size in acres
21.85
History
The site which now bears the name Cathedral Park is steeped in history. It is believed to be one of the 14 Lewis and Clark landing sites in the Vancouver-Portland area: William Clark and eight men camped there on April 2, 1806. This spot had been a fishing and camping site for many area Indian tribes. In 1847, the founder of St Johns, James John, settled on the site and operated a ferry to Linnton across the Willamette River. In 1931, the St Johns Bridge was built on the site with 400-ft towers and a main span of 1,207 feet. It is the only steel suspension bridge in Portland.
In the early 1970s, Howard Galbraith, the "honorary mayor" of unincorporated St Johns, got tired of the junkyard state of the area under the eastern end of the bridge. He organized a drive that eventually raised $7.5 million to build a park. After eight years of community fundraising, combined with state, county and city funding, the park was dedicated at a community celebration on May 3, 1980. It got its name from a photo of the St Johns Bridge by Al Monner that appeared on the front page of the Oregon Journal in 1968. Reference was made to its beautiful cathedral-like arches and the park found its name.
In June of 1980, the Cathedral Park Committee sealed a time capsule (complete with ash from Mt St Helens) into the Wall of History in the Memorial Garden in the park. The time capsule will be opened in 2030. Measurements for how to find the capsule (which is covered with a stone that matches the rest of the wall) have been left with the Oregon History Center. Committee chairperson Sharon Roso said, "We want to make sure that in 2030 people will remember there's a celebration due in St Johns."
In 2008, a sculpture by Donald Fels was installed beneath the St Johns Bridge. Drawing on the River reflects back on a century of industry in St Johns and is an homage to both the mills and the workers who ran them. The piece also invokes the river itself, which powered the mills and is the reason the workers settled here.