Marshall Park

Foley Balmer Bridge Replacement The new bridges are complete and open for use.

Both of these bridges have been out of service for several years, and the new bridges will help reconnect popular SW trails.

Project Overview Thanks to funding from the voter-approved Parks Replacement Bond , this project will replace a bridge in the Foley-Balmer Natural Area and the Owl Creek Bridge in Marshall Park.

Marshall Park was donated to the City of Portland by F. C. and Addie Marshall. According to a letter from the Superintendent of Parks to the City Attorney on May 14, 1947, Mr. Marshall had been devoting himself for the ten years since his retirement "to transforming an abandoned quarry and the marginal ground, some ten or eleven acres in all, into a charming little park which he would like to dedicate without too much fuss to the recreational use of the public." The property was officially accepted as a gift from the Marshalls on June 13, 1951. Additional acreage was added to the original donation in the 1950s. Marshall Park is primarily a natural area developed with hiking trails located in the middle of a 400-foot-wide canyon. The canyon is a natural drainage basin formed by the west slope of the Palatine Hills, the hills northwest of Mt Sylvania, and by Tryon Creek that runs through it. Within the park is a waterfall framed by rock boulders. One of the notable features of the trail system is a small stone bridge that spans Tryon Creek. In 2019, a new bridge was installed thanks to funds from the 2014 Parks Replacement Bond.