Hendricks Park: 6 Month Solo Road Trip

Checking out Hendricks Park Eugene

I’m back in Eugene for a couple of days checking out a horse farm in Creswell for my two horses.  I’m trying to find a place to put down roots. I like that Eugene is a small college city right dab in the middle between Portland and Ashland. I can jump in my car and be at the ocean, mountains, and cities in less than 2 hours. I’m staying at an Airbnb property called the Robin’s Nest for a couple of days before I head up the coast to Portland. Next week I’m flying to Kauai HI for a week with friends I met on the Sailboat adventure in the Bahamas, so I’m trying to cram everything in before I leave. One of the parks I explore in Eugene is Hendricks Park. I come to the city to enjoy the parks, what can I say, I’m a country girl.

Hendricks Park

I find Hendricks Park on TripAdvisor and decide to check it out. It’s a cloudy day in the low 60’s as I venture out. Hopefully, it won’t rain. I wear my rain jacket and bring my umbrella. It’s in a well maintained residential area of Fairmont. At the parking lot, I find a bulletin board with a map of the park. I didn’t realize how big it is. I focus on the Rhododendron Garden since it reminds me of the bird sanctuary back in Groton, MA.

Hendricks Park is the oldest park in Eugene with 78 acres of forests, trails, and gardens. What a delightful park with paved and stone paths which wind through beautiful, manicured gardens filled with flowering trees and shrubs. Deep in thought, I hear the crunching of leaves, which jolts me back. A doe is walking in the woods, gingerly making her way through the underbrush. We look at each other as I take a few pictures. Apparently, she isn’t afraid, she knows she is safe within the confines of the park.

Hendricks Park; a deer in the woods