Reed College Canyon
Reed canyon is a 28-acre watershed in the heart of the campus, running east to west, dividing north from south, and is spanned by two pedestrian bridges and a land bridge. Home to a growing population of wildlife and native plants, the watershed includes the headwaters of Crystal Springs Creek, a tributary of the Johnson Creek Watershed, and Reed Lake, which has been deemed the oldest naturally occurring lake in Portland.
This website includes details about restoration efforts for the canyon and also its history. Please enjoy the online view, and then make plans to visit. If you are new to the Portland area, you might want to start by looking at our canyon map.
Spring Canyon Day 2012
Join the Reed community in planting native trees and shrubs. The event is free and open to anyone. Tools, training, food and fun will be provided. The event will be held on Saturday, March 31 from 9a.m.–3p.m. Meet your friends in the canyon below the Grove dorms, we'll be focusing on improving the habitat that overlooks the farm property.
Dress for the weather and bring gloves if you have them.
For more information email zac.perry@reed.edu or call 503-572-8636 for more info.
Fresh from the Blog
Reed Canyon Wildlife
With the restoration of Reed Canyon, we've been accumulating a lot of native critters. Here's a selection of some recent sightings: Otters are making increasingly regular appearances in the Canyon - look for them early morning, particularly by the...
Canyon Day Recap
So, another Canyon Day has come and gone - but not without leaving a pretty big impact on the Canyon. Here's a recap of what we did: This spring, we decided to focus our efforts in the area just...
Spring Canyon Day 2012
Hey all! So, it's a fresh spring and Canyon Day is officially here. We have a lot on our laundry list for this time around, so we could really appreciate your help. This year we will be focusing our...
Let's Occupy the canyon!
Two weeks until the kick-off of spring in the Reed Canyon! We are hoping you can make it to the spring Canyon Day event on March 31st. We will be in the lower canyon near the creek and...
A Kinda Sorta Spring
It's been pretty difficult at times to tell whether it's actually spring or not lately - one day Reedies will be frolicking on the lawn in all their newly sunburnt glory, the next a stern frost and some slushy snow...
Crystal Springs Headwaters Fish Passage and Restoration Project
Summer 2010 had a major restoration project in the canyon. View a video on the restoration or read about the project or view photos of the restoration. There's a great documentary exploring the history, ecology, community and educational opportunities of Crystal Springs and news coverage of the project from KGW TV, and most recently from an article and a video covering the restoration from the Portland Tribune.
Videos! Canyon Field Notes
Find out what's happening in the canyon with Zac Perry, canyon guru, as he brings you info about bees, canyon restoration, and more. View videos.
Canyon Plants
If you're interested in the botany of the Pacific Northwest, be sure to visit our plants page. We have photographs and descriptions of many of the native plants found in the canyon, as well as a page of information about our invasive species.
Weblog
View our weblog for canyon-related notes, updates, and images; canyon users can share their wildlife observations and other notes
about what's going on.
If you have any feedback or suggestions about the blog, drop a note to zac.perry@NOSPAMreed.edu (Take out the "NOSPAM" portion, of course). Thanks!