Alton Baker Park — Attraction in Eugene

The premier duck park of the Eugene/ Springfield area.

I've had the chance to visit this park over the last few decades and it's only gotten better since first visiting in the 90s.

Granted, there are a handful of interconnected walking paths or trails, but many of those are for casual jogging or a shortcut between campus-stadium-offCampusHousing....

...But I visit for the ponds and water features. (Pre-pandemic one might see a 5k or other event being held here on any given Saturday.)

I have a young infant daughter now, who has learned many animal noises... and let me tell you! Our baby can quack like all the ducks she sees when visiting this park! Creating new experiences mixed with my nostalgic memories makes for an enjoyable time full of fun.

The park runs from the west side of Autzen Stadium to the East Bank of the MacKenzie River(with a foot bridge that allows for crossing on legs or bikes). The park lies Between MLK and Franklin boulevards. It has a very large footprint.

Parking is ample and on many sides of the park. To have easy access to water, I recommend using the lots on the club drive entrance, off of MLK. (Don't leave valuables in sight in your vehicles. )

Fishing is possible with the requisite licensing.

Please don't feed the ducks, geese or pigeons bread- though appropriate birdseed would give you so much avian attention that you'll turn into a bird whisperer!

Please have fun, go for a walk, soak in the sun or rain and create...

So far the times I've gone it hasn't been very crowded. I've picniced in the grass and gone to the rivers edge to swim on a hot day in June. Nobody bothered me while I picnic by myself in some shade, and the park was clean and nice. We did find some trash by the riverside and picked it up before we left, and the trash did include a freaky looking surprisingly large knife (???) So please give your spot a once over if you have kids or animals who could be harmed. We went before sunset so there were tons of bugs out, but we saw ducks (who swam quite close to us several times!) A really precious little bat (early bat gets the bug!) And on our way out an entire gaggle of fresh and growing little goslings and their adult goose handlers chilling and preening and being absolutely adorable next to the road and a bike path. Quite nice for critter-spotting. I'm very pleased every time I come here, despite having to pick up a bit to make up for whoever can't. I was also quite happy that the people that were there near us by the river gave us plenty of room to hang out, goof off, and they were very polite. I'll return often, and I'll bring a trash...

Very large park with more than adequate free parking available during park hours. On some evenings, when larger events/ concerts, etc, are going on, the parking spots are used for event parking for a fee that you pay for on site.

There is a nature area with pond, a bike trail that's in the park connects to the existing bike/ jogging trail that follows along the Willamette river.

There is a restroom on site... it's not the greatest but usually not really dirty either.

Some covered picnic benches are there for use as well as a Frisbee golf course that stays fairly busy when weather is permitting all year round.

There is a high amount of cruising that goes on here, especially early morning and also later in the evening in the parking lots, more so it seems in the back parking lots.

Sometimes the gates are closed at night, and sometimes they stay open. There is a moderate number of homeless individuals that frequent the park and along the river, but I've never seen any problems because of that. Just be aware of your surroundings, which is good advice for any place...