Skinner’s Butte

Nice place to go drive up to and relax. Not very safe to walk up to the top, due to the narrow streets. Some trash, but decent overall. Nothing too exciting, but a nice place to go to get away from the town for a few minutes.

Nice view of the city, but lots of trash around the summit. We take tourists to Skinner’s Butte, so they can see the city. Otherwise, we rarely go there.

A little old for my 2 year old, but in a year or so she’ll love it. Too many ladders and open places great for falling. The little pretend pioneer town was adorable but made it hard to keep an eye on her. Not a great park for two small ones although probably fine for 1 or slightly older kids. Beautiful and we’ll maintained

This was a nice place to visit during our time in Eugene, especially because it’s one of the few places where you can see the skyline of this college town. There are hiking trails everywhere and a rock-​climbing wall! The drive up to the peak is not long nor is it very high. It’s also very accessible from Downtown Eugene.

I’ve been before, but went recently for a kid birthday party, which was near the little play area. The play area looked super nice! Lots of families and kids playing there.
The weather was beautiful and sunny so it was the perfect day to be at the park.
I heard people talking about some kind of drugs/​drug paraphernalia being in a toilet in the bathroom. I didn’t go in the bathroom so I just heard about it second hand. I mean, that sucks, but it’s a public park, so that kind of thing is going to happen sometimes.
All the trees were really beautiful, the grass was green, and the sound of the water in the river was a nice back drop.
Highly recommend!

Skinner Butte was one of my first introductions to the beauty of the big trees of Eugene way back in 2003. It still does it for me all those years later.
It is a pretty easy to get to as it is right near town. I love that it is close to the Willamette River and the bike path. The hike is mellow yet invigorating. I enjoy people watching seeing the runners of track town USA and people walking their dogs along with the moss covered trees with giant trunks.
There is a nice view of Eugene from the summit where you can sometimes see folks doing yoga, tai chi, playing chess, or smoking cigarettes from the summit.
This is Eugene and the quirky eccentric humans are equally fascinating as the nature that makes the NW such a great place to live as well as visit!

My favorite part of the park is the river walk. Dog friendly. I love hearing the birds and the water … drawback is that you can also hear the highway.

For Toddlers, it is somewhat fun, but scary the big play structure is geared more toward older kids with it being very tall and having lots of holes kids can fall through if they are not paying attention or not old enough to be unsupervised for climbing up and down.
The water feature is cool, therefore it draws all ages, but safety for toddlers, not the best in town. Definitely want to be right with them and watch them close and go on the play structure with them so they do not fall through a hole. It seems alot of parks around town have these structures with holes (not as tall as this one).

Skinner’s Butte now hosts Riverplay Discovery Village, the best playground I’ve seen in a long time. I visited with my 2-​year-​old on a Saturday morning and it was full of kids, but also so full of diverse things to do that everyone was having fun. I saw new toddlers up through 10-​year-​olds playing with the various water features, slides, swings, climbing areas, and structures for imaginative play. I’m from Seattle, and I make a habit of visiting as many new parks as I can with my son, and this is the best combination of kids’ play structures that I’ve seen yet. There were lots of activities I haven’t seen and an unusually thoughtful deployment of the often-​wasted space beneath the play structure (little see-​through tunnels!). My son especially liked pumping water to the wheel, butt-​sliding down the astroturf under the bridge, and the super tall slide (which scares the daylights out of me, but it’s good for parents to experience danger because it helps us grow and learn).
The people were great too – friendly kids, lots of dads showing up, and visiting dogs all stayed on leashes and out of the play area.
Note: there are bathrooms, but alas, no soap.

Ahhhh so excited to be allowed to climb on columnar basalt of such fine hexagonal quality. I’ve enviously eyed the columns of devils post pile in Cali knowing that I would never be able to scale those rocks. I’ve scrambled over the columns at the Giants Cosway in Northern Ireland day dreaming about scaling them in a rock climbing manner, it is different here in Eugene.
Rock climbing is encouraged here. Anchors are set up. There is a poster on site explaining the route difficulties. What a sweet, sweet place to be allowed to do something that is normally taboo.

While Skinner Butte Park is certainly a favorite for many residents and tourists of Eugene, my first experience of this park and popular lookout spot was rather interesting…
The park itself is beautiful. A great place for rock-​climbing and hiking enthusiasts, as well as nature lovers, Skinner Butte Park is a lovely location to admire Eugene’s lush wildlife.
I was first taken here at the end of what I otherwise would have rated a fun date. Cute idea right? Unfortunately, not so much… (Damn, I really should have paid attention to that red flag when I learned what his name was… Cough cough)
I had never visited this location before and my date insisted that I had to experience the wonderful view of the glistening city lights.
The view certainly was lovely and lived up to its hype until my date decide to pull some unsavory and extremely odd moves. I’m just going to do you a favor and spare you all the details on this one… Other than the fact that I pulled the date to a screeching halt.
Despite the fact that the memory of my date is a EUG fail, the memory I have of the views of Skinner Butte Park is still wonderful.
I highly recommend making a day of exploring the lush trails and perhaps even braving the slightly daunting but very beautiful rocky cliff walls for some rock-​climbing!
Definitely take advantage of those warm summer nights and check out the city lights as well, it can be rather romantic, with the right person!!!

Stopped here on the way road trippin. Kids loved it has a small water feature too. The playground, trails and view of the river were all nice. The drug dealers/​crackheads/​bums hanging all around not so much.

Great, easy hike to the summit for nice views of Eugene.
+ Trails are well-​marked and maintained
+ Dog friendly

Well maintained. Nice concert

Super fun, big, and plenty of different activities for all interests and ages. Definitely recomment and would come back again.

You know when you are driving a long, long way with your kids, and then you stop at a playground and try to convince them that the playground visit constitutes a really amazing excursion rather than a driving break?
Well, this is the playground that will totally make that strategy work. We stopped for what was supposed to be a short break, but it turned out to be such a fantastic playground that we hung out for an hour and a half. Giant climbable rock mountain with slides! Hand-​crank cablecar thingy! Play houses galore! Pump-​powered, dam-​able water wheel! Awesome rock-​creek-​dirt-​pile to stare at longingly while your mom explains why you can’t get wet when you are about to get back in the car for 3 hours!
And while they aren’t technically part of the playground infrastructure, the teenaged parkour enthusiasts who were using some of the playstructures to practice tricks made for a whole other level of entertainment. The kids loved watching them!
Truly a top-​10 playground experience. Worth a detour!

This is one of the nicest parks in Eugene. The butte has multiple trails up to the top which afford a lovely view of the cityscape. The north side has a plethora of native plants and a nesting pair of bald eagles. The west side has rock columns that every climber in town has scaled at least once.
If you feel like being a lazy American you can even drive to the top and eat your fastfood. There are plenty of hidy holes for you 420 friendly folks to enjoy the view and go up in smoke. In addition the top boasts multiple picnic tables for your eating pleasure, be it munchies or aforementioned snacks.
The surrounding park connects to the bike path and has lovely walking paths along the river.
For the breeders out there, there is plenty of room for your screaming rugrats to tire themselves out.
For the parents of pooches there is never ending strolling action. Some people let their dogs swim and frolic down by the water.
The only downside to this park is the folks who live here year-​round. While most are cool as hell, there are a few rowdy n crazy people that can make it unpleasant. Hence the 4 star review.

WOW!!! This was a great place for a break. We really needed to get the kid out of the car as she was driving us crazy. It is amazing what a 2-​year old can do.
Anyway, when we pulled her out of the car, and ran and ran and ran. We got on the swings, played on the play structure, and then checked our the river. This is one of the nicer kid friendly parks I have seen. We are from Chico, California, and they have a GRET children’s park, and this one gives ours a run for its money.
Take you kids, let them play, and enjoy their time. I suggest you take a turn on the swing also as it is a good stress relief.

Eugene has a more than enough awesome parks. I think this one offers the best view of the town, and it’s quick and easy, so if you’ve got any out-​of-​towners with ya, pack ‘em in the car and head up the butte.
I’ve never actually followed the hiking trails, but there’s a road that goes right to the top, where a giant yellow O (formally a giant cross with a dark history…) watches over the city of Eugene. A great view and a great spot for pictures. There is a walking path (maybe half a mile) that circles the top of the butte, offering more views and a quick shot of nature.
If you’re in town, it’s worth the brief detour from downtown (it’s right by the 5^th street market).

Unbelievable View! You can drive, hike the trail or ride your bike. Regardless of how you get to the top of Skinner’s Butte, one of the best views of Eugene is waiting at the top.
I usually hike up the from the old Victorian Shelton-​McMurphy-​Johnson house at the bottom as the path winds it’s way up the butte. It’s not a difficult hike and it’s well worth the effort.
It’s not as good of a hike or view as Spencer’s Butte but it’s a lot more accessible being right downtown.