3 national parks in Oregon that never happened

Posted by Jeff on Jul 26, 2016 @ 11:30 am in Conservation | 0 comments | Last modified: July 26, 2016

Oregon is no stranger to National Parks. Since 1902, the state has been home to Crater Lake National Park, and over the last century four other spots have won lesser designations from the National Park Service.

But in the mid-20th century, Oregon’s scenic beauty was prized by the park service, which proposed several sprawling national parks around the state.

Three stunning spots in scenic Oregon were front-runners to land the national park status, a designation that was so divisive at the time that it was known in the northwest as the “park problem.”

So it comes as little surprise, perhaps, that the three proposed parks in Oregon never came to be. That left the state then as it is today – with one major national park at Crater Lake, but scenic beauty abundant under other designations.

Here’s a look at what could have been, for better or for worse, three major national parks in Oregon.

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