Johnson Lake Property
The captured official page publishes visiting hours. Check the source for current closures. Public-entry status is separate from wheelchair accessibility.
Classification and evidence
Official page label: Natural area; Atlas classification rules. Classification: source-labeled.
Source captured: 2026-06-02. Human verification: Pending.
Check current official informationPublished activities: be in a natural area, and be in a park.
Photo from the City's park pagePark history
Over a half a century ago this lake was the recreational center of the area. Harry Johnson purchased the lake in 1911. At that time, the lake was clear and the springs in the shallow areas were so strong that the water resembled bubbling fountains. People rented boats to play, fish, and swim in the clear waters. There was a beach house where people could change and a dance hall where they could recreate.
In the late 1940s the dance hall burned down, but the community still enjoyed the lake for a number of years. In the 1950s, Owens-Illinois (glass factory) purchased the land to the south and west of the lake and the area where the lake flows into the slough system from Harry Johnson.
In the 1960s, Harry Johnson constructed a logjam around the outflow pipes where Owens-Illinois had been discharging pollutants into the lake in an attempt to try to keep the pollutants from spreading across the surface of the lake. At that time the neighborhood kids were still swimming and fishing on this lake.
When I-205 was constructed in the late 1960s to early 1970s, a portion of the lake and a small stream that flowed into it were filled in. Over the next two decades, people continued to fish on the lake until they noticed that the fish they were catching had sores on them.
From the City's page for this park.
Visitor amenities
Published amenities are checked separately from entry conditions. Each links to other documented locations; confirm current hours before visiting.
- be in a parkAny park
- be in a natural areaNatural area
What kind of place this is
A natural area: habitat protection and stewardship guide what uses and facilities are appropriate. Classified from official page labels it a natural area; our model.
Something specific to this park — the thing you'd use it for if it were here.
Send an idea for this park →Through the year
Seasonal facilities and listings captured by the Atlas. These records do not measure attendance, utilization or all activity at the site.
Counts describe captured listings, not attendance or all activity. No listings captured does not mean the site is unused.
Dark by 5 and wet most days: cover, lighting, indoor rooms, and paths that drain.
- be in a park
- be in a natural area
Fields and gardens open; showers between sun. Leagues, planting, first picnics.
- be in a park
- be in a natural area
Water, shade, long evenings — the season the system is built around.
- be in a park
- be in a natural area
Light shortens and leagues wind down; shelters and lighting carry the season.
- be in a natural area
- be in a park
| Season | Programs | Recurring events | One-time |
|---|---|---|---|
Winter Dec–Feb Not yet published | — | — | — |
Spring Mar–May Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Summer Jun–Aug Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fall Sep–Nov Recorded through 2026-10; 1 month still to come | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What's on
No current listings were captured and matched to this property. This does not establish that no activity takes place. See the citywide calendar and programs.
Partners & friends
The whole ecosystemNo known partner is currently linked to Johnson Lake Property in the Partnership Atlas. This is an opportunity signal, not an official priority.
See opportunity signalsSupport this park
Real ways to help Johnson Lake Property and parks like it. This site does not process donations; every link below goes to an official giving or volunteering channel.
How it's holding up
The City's own inventory of what is here and the condition it last recorded for each item. Dates are the source's; old dates mean no newer public assessment, not that nothing has happened since. Historical project estimates appear below; they are separate from these condition records.
Historical cost profile · 2023 reporting
Johnson Lake Property
$147K
1 distinct source rows. Proposed repair and improvement costs, not a current funding gap.
All-in annual service cost: Not established
Current remaining repair cost: Not verified
What the estimates cover
Categories are Atlas labels based on project titles. Expansion and new provision are included where proposed; a project can include several kinds of work.
The work, cost & reason (1 source rows)
Ecological Restoration_ Johnson Lake Property$147,006
Asset as named in source: Not specified
Placholder for Ecological health restoration
KGW table row 500. Source field: “Escalated Estimate.” Estimate date, inflation basis, funded amount and completion status are not supplied.
Original source table ↗No rated built records linked in the condition dataset. Condition ratings do not determine these dollar estimates.
Source: KGW’s November 2023 table. Current status, remaining scope and funding are unverified. Exact duplicate rows count once; other scope overlaps remain unresolved.
Compare repair estimates across parks →Annual service · FY 2026–27 adopted
A complete annual cost is not yet available.
This property has no named account linked in the public budget extract. Shared crews and citywide programs may still fund its care.
Later budget supplements and unallocated shared services are not included.
Annual breakdown & district context →District picture · District 1
This park in the district picture
The same public records, read the same way for every property, so this park can be set next to its district. Each figure keeps its own source and date. “Not available” means the source has no record for this property. It is not a zero.
People nearby
- Residents within a half mile
- 1,107
- Households within a half mile
- 434
2020 Census blocks whose centre point lies within a half mile of the park boundary, measured in a straight line. Residents, not visitors. Blocks outside the city limits count.
Recorded backlog
- Open backlog IDs
- 1
- Closed backlog IDs
- 0
Records in the PP&R backlog map workbook that name this property. The workbook publishes no cost field, so these are counts of records, not dollars.
Active capital projects
- Active geocoded projects
- 0
Geocoded PP&R capital projects at this property, a subset of the full capital program. The cost is the published estimated total project cost, not spending to date.
Who is on record
No partner agreement on record
The department-provided directory names no agreement here. Friends groups without a formal agreement are not captured.
From the department-provided partnership directory. It records what is on paper, not who does each task.
Repair ledger
Public data does not currently flag repair candidates for this park. Additional PP&R maintenance exports can be added without changing the page structure.
Seen something here that's broken, fixed, or missing from this list? Records are updated periodically; tell us what you see.
Send a condition note →Public assets
All 0Furnishings the City inventories here, with each item's condition score — 1 is good, 5 is very bad. Asset photos aren't public yet.
From the City's park page
Johnson Lake Natural Area on Portland.gov
This page contains information about Johnson Lake Natural Area.
Johnson Lake Natural Area is a 15.2-acre natural area, nestled immediately west of the I-205 bridge. The lake is naturally spring fed (there are over 20 springs in the lake) and the site is host to a variety of wildlife, including many aquatic and migratory birds, otters, beavers, and freshwater mussels. There is a quarter mile gravel trail through the park, which includes a small loop trail to a viewpoint of the lake.
5am to midnight
All dogs must be leashed in this park.
This page, on a sign
The QR label for this park points here. Print labels →
https://parks.portlandciviclab.org/parks/johnson-lake-property-207?utm_source=park_qr&utm_medium=sign&utm_campaign=park_207
Where this comes from
Facilities from the City's amenity pages and asset layers; hours, photo, and history from the City's park page; programs and events from its catalogs; condition from PortlandMaps public records. Where the City publishes nothing, this page says so instead of guessing.