Spencer Butte Park, Nature reserve in Eugene, Oregon, US
Spencer Butte Park is a nature reserve in Eugene, Oregon, and part of the Ridgeline Trail System. It features forested trails leading through Douglas fir woodland to a rocky basalt summit, with open meadows and patches of native wildflowers along the way.
The land around Spencer Butte was used by local Native American tribes as a lookout point and for gathering plants. In the early 1900s the area became a public park, and in 2015 stone stairs were added to the summit trail, making the climb more accessible.
The main trail to the summit follows a smooth path with stone stairs, while the West Trail is rockier and can be slippery when wet, so sturdy footwear is helpful. Visitors are asked to stay on marked trails to protect the plants that grow in the exposed basalt at the top.
The butte takes its name from Spencer Fullerton Baird, a naturalist who worked for the Smithsonian Institution and was the uncle of Eugene's founder, Eugene Skinner. The roughly 10 acres (4 hectares) of exposed basalt at the top form a rare habitat for lichens, mosses, and wildflowers that are not common elsewhere in the region.
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