Drake Park is located on 13 acres in Downtown Bend, Oregon, on the banks of the Deschutes River. There is plenty of parking along Street, but you can also park downtown and take the short walk to Drake Park. The trails are paved and very nice.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
The first city park in Bend, Drake Park is named after Alexander Drake, a developer who platted a neighborhood in 1910 around the area where the park is located. This neighborhood is now a historic district, filled with beautiful residential homes and businesses. In 1920, the land for the park was purchased and the town folks got busy making it beautiful. You can read all about it below:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
The park is full of trees, grass, trails, and easy access for water activities. There are a lot of duck and geese. Pretty to watch, but the geese have become quite a problem over the last decade.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
Their poop and other sediment is filling up the bottom of Mirror Pond, and plans to dredge there are discussed from time to time. As for the geese, there were simply too many of them. A couple of years ago, it was decided to kill off the over-abundance of geese, and give their meat to feed the homeless at Thanksgiving. That caused quite a debate, and many were not happy about the decision. I bet that those who got roast geese for dinner were not complaining though.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
The Deschutes is dammed at Newport Avenue and creates the lovely Mirror Pond. The lucky people with some of the million dollar Bend houses, get to live right on the river. I would love that! It is very pretty to look at those houses and the reflections of the trees and sky.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
The red buoys and water fencing mean stop and get out! Take your canoe or other floating device with you. Otherwise, you will go over the dam or may just get caught inside it. It happens every year.
Drake Park is full of a beautiful variety of trees. Bend used to mainly be a mill town, back in the old days. In the park, there is a display that talks about that history, which can be read from this plaque:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
This pondo looks like it has been through a lot.
But, it is still with us!
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
There is a "highweel" on display by the historical plaque. It was used to haul timber in the early 1900's.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
I love those big old Ponderosa Pines. There is magic in them.
There are many events held at the park; some weekly, some annual and some no longer exist. The weekend that I took these pictures, there was a car show. To read more about the car show, please "CLICK HERE".
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
(This one is for you, Patti!)
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
In December, there is a lighted canoe parade at Mirror Pond. We got there too early last year, but thought that we were too late. It was so cold outside! I took the pretty picture below, and then we left. I still wish that I would have gotten pictures of the parade ... hopefully this year I will.
Mirror Pond, Bend Oregon, Dec. 2010
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| Oregon Giftrs of Comfort and Joy ~ Bend's Water Pagent on Mirror Pond |
Back in the day, there was an annual Mirror Pond Pageant. I made a cool post about all about it, and you can find it by CLICKING HERE.
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| Source; Bend Farmer's Market |
In the summer, you can find fresh food several times a week at the Bend Farmer's Market. Just "CLICK HERE" to go to their website.
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| Source: The Duck Race.com |
Also, in September every year, the Rotary Club does a Duck Race fundraising event at Mirror Pond. To learn more, please just "CLICK HERE". This year it will be held on September 11th.
So there is a start to learning about Drake Park and Mirror Pond. It is a wonderful place to visit, so if you find yourself in Bend you just might like to do that sometime.
~ Kathy Matthews
Here is a cute You Tube video of family at enjoying the river at Drake Park:
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At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot! All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.  |
5 comments:
And here I thought Mirror Pond was just an ale. *shifty* Oh, these pics make me homesick. I've only been to Bend once or twice, but I've been to Sun River a couple times, too, and the look is so distinctive. I miss Oregon BAD.
Lady, you and your BFH have way too much fun. :) Thanks for sharing your part of the world!
Hart,
Your comment made me sad for you, seriously! I would be homesick too. Check in if you get in this area sometime, I'd love to meet you in person.
Lisa,
I am just enticing you and Joe to come out and see us ... dangling that Oregon bait, time after time! That's what I'm doing.
Thanks,
Kathy M.
What a lovely park but watch that goose poop. Nothing smells worse or stays longer than those droppings.
Loved the bug and laughed when I saw you had put it in for me. Aw thanks for thinking of me.
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