Joe Dancer Park — Attraction in Oregon

This place has become an eye sore of Mcminnville and our council members should be ashamed. As you drive in you will notice so many broke down RVs , tents and filth you can barely drive through to get to the once beautiful place. Parents don't feel safe taking there's kids and citizens don't even want to drive down to pay their water bill due to the homeless situation gathered there. Since the 9th circuit passed these people camped along this area have brought increased amount of criminal activity with multiple reports a day to police for fights, drug use and the list grows day by day. Dumpsters have been put in place without being used by these people and is breeding ground for disease and children are amongst this homeless population causing concern amongst citizens. Why do these people seem to have more rights then homeowners when encountering the law? Why have we tied our law enforcements hands when dealing with this? It has got to change before this beautiful town turns into a mini Portland and we are quickly approaching that way if we don't do something immediately. It is unacceptable for these individuals to leave needles, trash, and basically stay for hand outs which we are quickly becoming known for here in mcminnville and enabling this problem. It's not just Joe Dancer Park facing this problem but parks throughout this town. People should be able to take their children to this park without fearing their safety while their son or daughter plays ball or wants to simply enjoy the park. Reconsider this park until something is done please. We are a compassionate town and community that's being taken advantage of by many that choose the homeless lifestyle. There's no doubt that amongst this population are individuals struggling that need our help and grace but many simply are leeching on this community and it...

Love this park in McMinnville. It’s huge. It has lots of trails, big trees for shade, all kinds of open space for kids and dogs to run around, and even though they don’t have any official bathroom throughout the park, they have a lot of little outhouses or whatever you call the plastic bin to use the bathroom in, and they seem to be well looked after in the area around them, always seem to be clean, which is not usually the common factor for these. You have some areas with water access, which can be nice on hot days and the grounds look well maintained for the most part. I just wish that after the soccer games that people attending the event with pick up their leftover food and trash and take it with them or dispose of it in one of the mini trash cans available throughout the park instead of waiting for others, small children and pets to get a hold of it or sit in it...

Nice park with a whole lotta ball fields. There's also a short trail along the river, an ok skateboard park, and massive play structure. Seriously, it's huge and awesome. It's the biggest one I've ever seen. Well until a fellow dad there told me about the one over at Discovery Park across town (which also has a splash pad). Both of them are so nice it's worth driving all the way down from Portland to visit if you have kids.

One thing to note at Joe Dancer park is that they apparently close off access to the interior roads and parking lots during the winter. At least that was my experience when I visited in early March. So the only parking is at the first lot, which is pretty small (can fit 15 or so cars max). Not sure why they do that...