Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area

There's not going to be much to say about Bonnie Lure as there isn't much to it. After "touring" Oregon City, we headed out toward Estacada to try and find this state recreation area (it's not a state park and I'll explain why later). I didn't go with specific directions in hand, only the knowledge that it was out Highway 224, north of Estacada. I figured that it's a state park and they're always so well marked, why have good directions? Well, it's not a state park. It's an undeveloped state recreation area. After driving well past the turnoff and nearly hitting Estacada, we looked it up in the navigation. That brought us back down 224 where we turned off and drove right past the park in a loop that brought us back to Estacada. We looked it up on the state's website and drove back to where the navigation first told us. We drove by slowly this time and realized there was just a sign at the parking lot that would never stick out to you unless you knew it was there.

It may have been the slight frustration in getting there, it may have been the lack of contact with nature since way before tax season, but the creek was very serene. The water pushed up against the pillar of the bridge taking Dowty Road over Eagle Creek in a very . . . reassuring way. After reading what the Oregon State Park website had to say about this place (just now), I realized that we probably didn't see everything that Bonnie Lure had to offer. Even with this new knowledge, however, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that there isn't much to the recreation area but nature. It's a beautiful place to go fishing, sit by the creek or go on a short walk, but it's a recreation area and not a fully developed state park. If I were ever in the area again, I'd definitely want to stop by. It's pretty. It may be busy and unattractive on warm summer days (it just looks like one of those places), but on this nice but a bit drizzly of a spring day it was quite perfect.

Here are the specifics:
Fee: None

Pets: Allowed

Facilities: None
Attractions: Trail, wildlife/bird watching, native plants, fishing, swimming
Waterway: Eagle Creek & Clackamas River
Round Trip Hike: Roadside - unsure of trail length
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): N/A

Camping: No

Season: Year round

Coordinates: 45.350722 -122.37655

Governmental Agency Land: Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Eagle Creek, Oregon (1.3 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: I'll probably have to give it to Damascus, Oregon on this one (8.6 miles - Damascus is just under 10,000 in 2009, but Sandy will be there eventually and is closer. Clackamas, Oregon City, Gladstone are all pretty equally distant)

County: Clackamas , Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 5 for beauty, 4 for crowds, 3 for play availability, 5 for surroundings - 4.5 average

More Information: Oregon State Parks - Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Art? on the bridge:
Eagle Creek:
Eagle Creek under the bridge: