Albert Kelly Park

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The Bug report:

I will tell you about the park now!

It’s called Albert Kelly Park.

The whole park is 12 acres.

Its mostly field.

There are many trees (a few trees that are perfect to climb)

Many flowers.(common flowers like: daisies,dandylions)

And even a tiny playground: a big slide, not too big or small,

A merry-go-round, kiddy swings, normal swings, seesaw and a picnic table.

Every bit of the park is perfect for dogs and people of all ages.

I went there and it was awesome!!! It was like a treasure hunt,

I found a huge pine cone a foot long!

I really recommend it if you want lots of space to play with your dog, run with your kid or

Have time your self(not many people but still a great park)

The Bear report:

What I thout about the park was grate and I cout a ladey bug. And when I was luten it go but it woudinto so iwas shacin it and dopein it. But it stele woudint go so I put my fengr into it it was on ,my fengr so I put it on a tree but I put it on a lefe but then we had to go baek …

Translation- What I thought about the park: Was great and I caught a ladybug. And when I was letting it go but it wouldn't so I was shaking it and dumping it. But it still wouldn't go so I put my finger into it. It was on my finger so I put it on a tree. But I put it on a leaf. But then we had to go back...

The Mom report:

This park is nestled up in Southwest Portland on SW Dosch and Mitchell St, tucked away in a hilly residential area. The homes in the area were very nice, and LOTS of them were for sale. You can park on Mitchell, or do as we did and park along SW Boundary. The SW Boundary end of the park is open, with few trees, and slopes upwards to a playing field with some soccer goals on either end. There's a rather disgusting grate in the ground full of foul water at one end of the field--watch out for that if little ones are running around. The slope is rather steep, and we tried sliding down it on a bit of cardboard--unsuccessfully. The cardboard was simply too small, I think. If we revisit this park, we'll be sure to bring a nice large piece for hill sliding. Hmmm, I think we'll tuck some cardboard into the trunk for other hills we might encounter during this project....

Down the center of the park is a fenced off natural area. There's a creek here called Restoration Creek, but it's only visible within the fenced portion. It then moves underground, beneath the SW Boundary end of the park. There's really no way to get to it so no worries of kids/dogs getting into it. On the fence were those little plastic real estate boxes with pamphlets full of interesting historical information about Albert Kelly and the establishment of the park. I'm a terrific nerd about these things and have never before seen a little neighborhood park offering such a thing. Fantastic! Along one edge of the natural area is a little playground area and picnic table--perfecting for sitting and reading your Albert Kelly Park pamphlet while the kids play.

Farther toward the Mitchell Street end of the park is a rather stunning stand of fir trees. They are full of cheeky ravens chasing squirrels--amusing, but poor squirrels! The park's keepers have placed posts with milk jugs full of produce bags around this end for dog owners who may have forgotten their poop bags. To think of it now, I don't recall seeing any dog waste even though I did see several dogs and their owners. Good job cleaning up, everyone! We all love responsible pet owners.

There are just a few trees in this park suitable for climbing--we made good use of them. The kids also picked dandelions and English daisies, which are scattered attractively throughout the open spaces. (This is a handy site for identifying those park-dwelling plants.) Bug brought her sketchpad with her and pressed a few flowers.

Conclusion: This is a fine neighborhood park. We visited on a sunny, warm Sunday and saw only a few people, mostly dog owners running their dogs off leash. The play area is not impressive enough to keep a child's attention for too long, but then you can stroll a little way and the scenery changes. Some climbing trees and plenty of bugs and flowers. It's located in a nice neighborhood, but I admit I did find getting to it a little tricky. The streets in that area are quite windy and twisty. In fact, Bug became carsick on the return drive home. Parking was not a problem at all. Probably not one we'll visit again, due primarily to the distance from our home.