Winter 2021 Update:
Construction is underway on $760,000 of improvements including: parking, sidewalks, utilities, signage, security lighting, benches, and paving the perimeter path to provide safe access halfway around the pond.
This work is scheduled to be completed in late Spring 2021.
During construction, the city has opened a temporary parking area off Hwy 138W, on the north side of the pond.
Artist’s Rendering of SE Community Park and Path
Ford's Pond Community Park
A City of Sutherlin open space/community park established in 2015.
The park consists of the 95-acre Ford’s Pond and 107 acres of open space, bordered on the west side by an oak-savanna hillside. Located in southwestern Oregon, the site was first commercially used as a wheat field and then converted to a log storage pond. Purchased in 2015 by the City of Sutherlin for municipal needs, the property, long a favorite with locals for fishing and birding, is also being developed as an open-space, community park.
The property is home to three different habitats, offering opportunities for nature viewing and recreation:
Emergent Wetlands
Willow/Ash Riparian
Oak Savanna
Ford’s Pond is a Birding Hot-Spot
With over 193 species of birds, the Umpqua Valley Audubon Society offers birding events at the park and maintains an eBird list.
