Get involved with the stewardship of Midland Park!
We're building a volunteer group at this park! If you're interested in helping us tend to this hidden gem, please fill out the Volunteer Interest Form or email the Developed Parks Coordinator, Kimberléa Ruffu (they/she), at kimberlea.ruffu@portlandoregon.gov
¿Necesita llenar este formulario en otro idioma? Envíe un correo electrónico a Kimberléa Ruffu a kimberlea.ruffu@portlandoregon.gov para una versión traducida en el idioma de su preferencia.
Bạn cần điền biểu mẫu này bằng ngôn ngữ khác? Vui lòng gửi email cho Kimberléa Ruffu tại địa chỉ kimberlea.ruffu@portlandoregon.gov để nhận phiên bản đã dịch sang ngôn ngữ ưu tiên của bạn.
Хотите заполнить эту форму на другом языке? Напишите электронное письмо Kimberléa Ruffu на адрес: kimberlea.ruffu@portlandoregon.gov, чтобы получить эту форму на другом языке.
About the Park
Midland Park is home to many trees, plants, butterflies, and bees. Tucked behind the Midland Library, this quiet green space hosts a large nature patch. The park is also home to a resident breeding Cooper's Hawk family and a dedicated bird sanctuary.
There are paved and unpaved pathways throughout this park, and there is an abundance of mature trees offering shade throughout.
This park will go through a series of site enhancements and improvements in the future, which you can learn more about on the Midland Park Project webpage.
Midland Park Tree Tour
Take a virtual tour of the trees at Midland Park
Midland Park Nature Patch
The Midland Park Nature Patch embraces the park's longstanding ethos of fostering bird habitat. Natural landscaped areas at the park include elements of the 2017 Midland Park Plan and feature flowering native plants, logs, boulders, and paths.
Click the link below to view the design and plant list for the nature patch and the master plan.
Learn more about Nature Patches in Portland
Portland Parks & Recreation is adding nature patches to developed park landscapes to provide natural experiences for people and habitat for wildlife. Nature patches are unique natural garden spaces that support native pollinators and offer fun opportunities for education and exploration.
Map
History
The untiring efforts of Jane Baker, an East Portland neighborhood leader who died in April 2002, turned an overgrown vacant lot behind Midland Library into a park. She envisioned a park where residents from all over the area could visit with birds and butterflies, trees and plants; where people could sit on benches and read - or walk on paths among the trees; where local students could be involved in designing, planting, and maintaining a park; and where the books inside the library could be made more real for children - and adults - through connections with the park. Since the mid-County area was unincorporated at that time, Jane knew that whatever got done in the "park" would have to be done by volunteer effort. During the late 70s and early 80s, Jane organized volunteer clean-up crews to get rid of the brush and blackberry bushes which covered the lot. She secured a donation of sawdust to cover paths that were carved out by a National Guard crew. With another donation of more than a dozen, hand-made birdhouses, and her personal contribution of plantings to stabilize the bank along the north side of the site, her park began to take shape.
Jane's plan involved using the park as a teaching tool for students in local schools. This living lab would allow students to learn how plants and animals lived together in a natural habitat in an urban setting. The proximity to the library was an added benefit in that people of all ages could learn about the natural world just outside its doors. Although Jane never saw the completion of the park, friends and neighbors formed Jane's Park Group to ensure that her vision was implemented. Today Midland Park is a fitting memorial to this dedicated volunteer.