Orenco Woods/Rock Creek Trail

From Oregon Hikers: Hillsboro’s universal access Rock Creek Trail follows the course of Rock Creek from the new Metro property at Orenco Woods Nature Park, dedicated on February 4th, 2017, through Orchard Park to arrive at Rock Creek Boulevard just north of Highway 26. Extensive riparian restoration has taken place along this creek, but there are also some busy road crossings. Orenco was a company town established in 1906 by the Oregon Nursery Company, which gave its abbreviated name to the settlement. The nursery became the largest such enterprise on the west coast. A statue of their signature Orenco apple and the home of the company’s co-founder, Malcolm McDonald, are reminders of this past association. Later, however, the company’s fortunes took a turn for the worse, and it filed for bankruptcy in 1927. The land was converted to a nine-hole golf course and then, in 2006, was slated to become the site of a housing development until the Recession of 2008 caused property values to take a nose dive. In 2011, the City of Hillsboro and Metro took advantage of this opportunity to acquire the future park.