Our mission is to provide exceptional park and recreation services that enhance the livability of our community and the lives of the people we serve.
One of the ways we can protect the natural qualities of our parks is to lessen our impact.
This keeps trampling to a minimum and reduces human disturbance of wildlife.
Litter shows disrespect and damages plant and wildlife habitat.
Each plant, animal, and rock has its value in nature. Please don't pick, catch, remove, or collect natural items.
Pets can disturb and harm wildlife—and sometimes other park visitors, too!
Bicycles are allowed only on designated paved paths.
• Unleashed dogs
• Hunting
• Firearms, fireworks, weapons.
• Alcohol
• Illegal drugs
• Glass containers
• Sound-amplifying devices
• Open fires
• Camping
• Motorized vehicles, except in designated parking areas
• Horseback riding
• Any activity which damages park property.
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Call 736-4104 for more information
Go to the map for THURSTON AREA
10 acres * Magnolia arboretum
* Natural area
* Open play area
* Picnic tables
Park hours are from 6a to 10p, except for activities sanctioned by Willamalane Park and Recreation District.
About 100 million years ago, when herds of
dinosaurs stomped through green forests of conifers and ferns, a thick,
furry bud blossomed into a magnolia. The ancestors of Ruff Park's trees
were the oldest flowering plants. They emerged millions of years before
bees or butterflies and are pollinated instead by beetles.
Magnolias once covered the world but today grow naturally in the southeastern
United States, Central America, and southeast Asia.
Ruff Park's magnolias
have yet to reach maturity, but hundreds of trees are rooted in the
rich, river-bottom soil along Cedar Creek. Neighborhood residents, visitors
from afar, and even a pair of resident fox enjoy the collection. Native
ash, cottonwood, and maple trees line the creek banks, while grasses
and flowers lend year-round color, texture, and perfume to Ruff Park.
Enjoy.
Wallace M. Ruff Jr. Magnolia Arboretum and Neighborhood
Park is owned and operated by the Willamalane Park and Recreation District.
The story of Ruff Park is the story of a son and his father.
Wallace M. Ruff Jr. bought the property that is now Ruff Park in the early 1970s, while he was a student at South Eugene High School. He paid for the land with money he earned selling the flowers he cultivated here. Ruff Jr. died in 1989. In 1992 his father, Wallace M. "Mack" Ruff Sr., donated the property to Willamalane.
Ruff Jr. gained his passion for
plants from his father. Mack Ruff was a landscape architect, an artist,
and an anthropologist. He was a professor of 
landscape architecture and
horticulture at the University of Oregon for 25 years. Throughout his
teaching career, he maintained a landscape architecture practice and propagated
tropical plants at his home. He is also known for his studies of the
native art and architecture of Papua New Guinea, where he taught for nine
years before his death in 1999.
Mack Ruff saw in his son's property the seeds of what could become the largest magnolia arboretum west of the Mississippi River. Ruff Park was designed as a memorial to Ruff Jr. by Mack's friend and teaching associate, George Jette.
When Wallace M. "Mack" Ruff Sr. and a
group of friends planted the first magnolias at Ruff Park, they started
something special. The group has grown into Friends of Ruff Park, dedicated
to Mack's vision of a magnolia arboretum of world renown.
Friends of Ruff Park, Willamalane staff, and community volunteers meet monthly to weed beds and plant and prune magnolias. Members of the Thurston High School Key Club contribute regularly, and the park owes much to Gossler Farms Nursery for donations of materials and expertise.
Ruff Park 2005 Volunteer Work PartiesCall 747-6705 to join Friends of Ruff Park in a Saturday morning work
party. Or, donate toward the expansion and continuing development of Ruff
Park through Friends of Willamalane 736-4044. Meet your neighbors, enjoy
the outdoors, and earn a free lunch! Work parties run from 9 a.m. to Noon
in the park, off 66th Street in Springfield. We provide the lunch!
Here's a list of the work party events for 2006:
•March 18 - Workday and Open Arboretum
•April 8 – Workday
•May 6 – Workday
•June 3 – Workday
•July 15 – Workday
•August 12 – Workday
•September 9 – Volunteer Appreciation Picnic
•October 7 – Workday
•November 4 – Workday
All workdays take place from 9 a.m. to Noon.
Nearest Intersection is 66th Street & Thurston Road.
1. Head EAST on South A Street. Continue for .1 miles
2. Turn LEFT onto Pioneer Parkway East. Continue for 1 mile
3. Turn RIGHT on McKenzie Hwy/Bend on-ramp onto Hwy 126 E. Continue for
5.2 miles
4. Turn LEFT onto Main Street. Continue for .8 miles
5. Turn LEFT onto 66th Street. Continue for .8 miles to the park on the
right
