Just outside of Portland, Milo McIver is a peaceful park that offers great access to the Clackamas River, including an accessible Kayak launch.

A park with a rich history and a richer future!

A destination in its own right, but also a basecamp for northeast Oregon’s wilderness adventures.

Yes, the grounds of our State Capitol are actually a state park!

The park that sparked the Oregon State Parks system!

Not all sites administered by Oregon State Parks spotlight camping, swimming, and other outdoor recreation. Some, like Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site, are preserved and managed because of their unique historical importance to Oregonians. Iwetemlaykin (pronounced Ee-weh-TEMM-lye-kinn) is one such place. A rolling grassland nestled just south of Joseph, Iwetemlaykin is a sacred place to area tribes. Its name translates to, “at the edge of the lake.” The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department opened the 62-acre site in 2009. The State paid $4.1 million for the property, funded by a Lottery grant and donations from three tribes: the Nez Perce, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Now open to the public, Iwetemlaykin is preserved as a place of respectful contemplation and reflection, in keeping with its character from the days before western settlement. It is a sacred site, now protected from development, and open to all.