COVID-19 Safety, Recovery and Resilience

Face coverings are required in indoor public spaces and many outdoor spaces. State policy
Access City programs, people and projects helping Portland recover. Portland United
Volunteer. Play. Stay. Shop. Show the Rose City a little love. Here for Portland

Rocky Butte Natural Area

Natural Area

On this Page

COVID-19 related information

Learn more about closures and postponements related to the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Size in acres

19.64

Year acquired

1988

History

Rocky Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone butte with steep forested slopes visible from Interstates 205 and 84. Joseph Wood Hill Park is located at the top. The slopes of Rocky Butte are managed as the Rocky Butte Natural Area. The Butte is part of the Boring Lava Field, a group of over 30 cinder cones in Oregon and Washington. The site was formerly home to Rocky Butte Jail.

Formerly known as Wiberg Butte, a large quantity of rock was removed from the quarry on the east face of Rocky Butte in the 1940s for use in a new Multnomah County jail. After the jail was demolished in the 1980s, much of the stone was reused along the Historic Columbia River Highway.