The Wallace Ruff Jr Memorial Park is a Springfield park that features a beautiful magnolia arboretum. The park is 10 acres total, so not tiny, and has a great walking path around part of the park that takes you on a tour of the magnolia trees. When they are in bloom they are especially beautiful, but the park is great regardless.
The park has two entrances, one that comes from its own parking lot, and one that comes from the nearby neighborhood down a path. Both sides have areas to park, and there is usually space.
The main attraction is the walking path through the arboretum section of the park. You won’t find any swings or play structures here! There are several benches and picnic areas to sit at an have a nice lunch at and watch the walkers go by.
Park features
Amenities
- Gravel walking path
- Picnic benches
- Sitting benches
- Shaded areas with trees
- Poop bags
- Trash bins
- Curbside parking
- Dedicated parking lot
This park DOES NOT HAVE:
- Paved path
- Dog park
- Covered shade structures
- Playground
Wallace Ruff Jr Memorial Park is a free park with no fees or paid parking area. Simply park at the curb and walk in! The entrance from the neighborhood does take a minute or two to walk with your dog, and is a bit of a chute, so proceed with caution if this is the entrance you’re using to get into the park.
The ground of the park is flat and has a walking path circling around the planted perimeter of the park. In the middle of this there is a large open field which has clear sight of both entrances. The path meanders around the edge of the field, sometimes visible, sometimes not, which is great for dogs who are sensitive to triggers that are constantly in sight. The environment breaks things up enough to make the field a great starting point for working with your dog.
The park patrons are pretty predictable here. The draw of the park is the walking path, and it only goes around the perimeter. Additionally the path is such that you can walk your reactive dog on it too since there are plenty of places to step to the side and get back to the safety of the field and away from triggers if necessary. These nooks to get away from the path aren’t just back to the middle of the park either, there is space towards the outer edge of the park as well in places.
Wallace Ruff Jr Memorial Park is an underutilized park that is tucked away from the main roads and frankly is a bit overlooked. Which is a little tragic because this is a great dog friendly park with the potential to be extremely useful with dogs who struggle behaviorally. With the level of traffic the walking path gets as well, it’s a great place to let your dog have some sniffs and explore new scents.
Aside from a little bit of watchfulness potentially needed to get into the park, there really isn’t a lot of threat or danger of triggers popping out unexpectedly. Patrons are mostly there to walk the path, which leaves the field clear for training and playing in.
Explore before you go! Take a look at my recent visit to this park.
Where is it?
The Jesse Maine Memorial Park is near the edge of Springfield in the Thurston area. It is easy to reach and requires just one turn off hwy 126. After you go up the hill it’s just a matter of turning around in the cul-de-sac and parking, and you’re at the park!
Here is the address : 1298-1078 66th St, Springfield, OR 97478
