There’s just something magical about trees. Being surrounded by a lush forest canopy, the tall, towering trees simultaneously grounding and aspirational. Forests are a place for healing and reflection, and Leach Botanical Garden has long been an urban escape for Portlanders. A recent expansion at Leach Botanical Garden brought the addition of a canopy walk, and it’s really something you must experience for yourself. You’ll find yourself wandering among giants at this aerial tree walk in Oregon. The garden includes much more though! Please be sure to check out the plants, the many art works in both the upper area and the are down the stairs on the banks of Johnson Creek.
The Portland Metro area, including Leach Botanical Gardens, rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. Indigenous people have created communities and summer encampments to harvest and enjoy the plentiful natural resources of the area for the last 11,000 years.
The garden was named for John and Lilla Leach. Over many summers, they undertook botanizing trips in the Olympics, Wallowas, and the wilderness areas of Curry County in southwest Oregon. They and their two burros, Pansy and Violet, had many adventures over the years.
It was during these excursions that Lilla Leach discovered five plant species previously unknown to science. For her work Lilla won the American award for botany and, in 1950, was the first recipient of the Eloise Payne Luquer bronze medal awarded by the Garden Clubs of America, John and Lilla’s botanizing trips ended about the time WW II was starting and Lilla then became a volunteer with the American Red Cross. In 1962, much of the Curry County wilderness visited by the Leaches and where Lilla discovered Kalmiopsis Leachiana, was set aside by the U.S. Forest Service as a botanical preserve named “The Big Craggies Botanical Area. In their wills, John and Lilla Leach had specifically stated that their home and property was to be given to the City of Portland as a botanical park and museum.
To log this cache:
1) Include in your log a photo of something that strikes your fancy. It would be wonderful to develop an album of the seasonal delights of the garden!
2) Email the cache owner with the following information - West of the shelter that faces the aerial tree walk, there is a semi-circular path composed of 4' wide flagstones. How many stones reach from the cement path to the north side of the shelter?
Hours of Operation
Tuesday-Fri 10am-5pm
Saturday-Sunday 10am-4pm
Closed on Mondays
Admission
Admission currently (April 2022) is waived. Donations are encouraged. When reinstated, admission will be $5 with exceptions made for financial need. Your contributions support the operation of the Garden and their ability to offer programs and education.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.