Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve

Probably a great place to visit for birding but NOT during December. The duck hunters are far too close and drive the birds off. Also the paths are mostly flooded and impassible!

I came out here on a pretty hot day and there is unfortunately little shade at this place. I did see lots of wildlife while out here so that kind of made up for it. They have a kiosk near the parking lot with maps and other information about Jackson Bottom. There is also an education center located at the front with a white board for you to record the different wildlife that has been seen at Jackson Bottom, be sure to check it out.

I live in the Arbor Roses complex in Hillsboro and have been looking at the Wetlands for over 2 years. I finally decieded to visit the visitor center and to my surprise, found an amazing place to explore with your family. It is so worth taking the time to visit and se nature at its best.

I took my kids for a nice little walk along the trails and peek at the Education Center. It was kind of hot and their are a lot of trails that aren’t very shaded which made it hard on a hot day. The Education center was small, but packed full of activities to keep the my kids occupied for about 45 min. :)

My boyfriend and I just wanted to get out of the house on a Sunday late afternoon and not have to drive far, so this is what we chose. It’s nice that it was so close to town, but for hiking it was only OK. Granted we’re not bird watchers, we just like to hike and take pictures. But neither of those activities were really great at Jackson Bottom. The «trails» were flat mowed paths in grass, which it seemed like a few of them hadn’t been mowed out yet for the season because we couldn’t find them. It also smelled like sewer. There’s a few good places to take pictures, but all in all not much to see. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go into the education center, which I would have liked, because we got there too late in the day. Maybe that would have made the trip a bit better. This place is known for hosting field trips. Had I been a student on a field trip here, I would have been very disappointed. But maybe the education center would have made it better. If you want a quick trip just to get outside for a bit, then this place will do, if you want something more exciting then research it a bit more.

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is a 725-​acre wildlife preserve located within the city limits of Hillsboro, Oregon. The visitor center is world class, and the bird and wildlife viewing opportunities are amazing for a place this close to civilization.
Last Friday afternoon on a one-​hour hike between rain showers, we saw Canada Geese, Gadwalls, Mallards, Ring-​necked Ducks, Scaups, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, a Great Blue Heron, American Coots, Killdeer, Dunlins, nondescript Gulls, Mourning Doves, a Northern Flicker, Western Scrub-​Jays, Tree Swallows, Black-​capped Chickadees, White-​breasted Nuthatches, Bewick’s Wrens, Marsh Wrens, a Ruby-​crowned Kinglet, American Robins, a Yellow-​rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhees, a Savannah Sparrow, a Fox Sparrow, many Song Sparrows and Golden-​crowned Sparrows, Dark-​eyed Juncos, Red-​winged Blackbirds, and an American Goldfinch. And with most of the trails still underwater, we didn’t even get to see a lot of the refuge!