Lithia Park

Ashland's story runs on its water. The springs around town carry a remarkable load of dissolved minerals, and one source is so rich in lithia, the lithium salts prized in that era for supposed health benefits, that it ranks among the most concentrated in the country, second in the United States to the famous waters of Saratoga Springs in New York. In the early 1900s Ashland set out to turn that water into a fortune, piping it into town and imagining a grand mineral-spa resort that would draw visitors from across the West.

The resort never quite materialized, but the effort left the town with something lasting. Land along Ashland Creek had already been set aside for a park as far back as 1892, when the Chautauqua movement held its summer gatherings of music and lectures here. As the spa ambitions grew, so did the park, and in 1927 the town installed the public lithia fountain near the Plaza so anyone could taste the water for free. The strong, mineral tang still surprises visitors, and sipping it has become a small rite of passage for anyone new to Ashland.

In 1914 Ashland hired John McLaren to design its park in earnest, and the choice mattered. McLaren was already famous as the superintendent who had turned San Francisco's windswept dunes into Golden Gate Park, a landscape he tended for more than half a century. When he first walked the Ashland Creek canyon he is said to have called it the most wonderful natural park he had ever seen, with little left to do but enhance what nature had already made.

So instead of imposing a grand plan, he worked with the canyon. He shaped curving parkways and paths, built ponds and gazebos, and planted groves that blend into the native alders, oaks, conifers, and madrones already there, in the naturalistic spirit of Frederick Law Olmsted. He added a formal terrace for an Italian marble fountain bought at a 1915 world's fair, and a neatly rowed grove of sycamores. The result reads as wild and designed at once, and in 1982 the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of it.

Most visitors start at the lower park, where the two duck ponds, the marble fountain, and broad lawns sit just steps from the downtown Plaza and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival theaters. Tucked into the slope above is the Ashland Japanese Garden, a serene composition of a tea house, bamboo, a small waterfall, and a raked sand-and-stone garden that feels a world away from the busy Plaza below.

From there the park narrows and climbs. Trails follow Ashland Creek up into the canyon past a bandshell, picnic groves, and a swimming reservoir, and the farther you go the more the town falls away and the forest takes over. You can make it a ten-minute stroll to the first pond or a real half-day hike into the hills, which is exactly what makes Lithia Park special: it is a downtown park you never quite have to leave to feel like you have gone into the woods.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Ashland's beloved central park stretches along Ashland Creek and divides into two moods. The lower park, right at the edge of downtown, has formal gardens, a serene Japanese garden, duck ponds, a playground, and a bandshell, while the upper park grows wilder into forested creekside trails. You can stroll paved paths or dirt trails, picnic under the sycamores, watch for deer near the upper ponds, and swim in the reservoir in summer.

It is a small but lovely free garden of winding stone paths, running water, and carefully chosen trees and shrubs, including maples, ginkgos, and hinoki cypress. It makes a peaceful pause within the larger park and is especially beautiful in fall when the leaves turn. Take your time, keep voices low, and stay on the paths to help preserve the quiet, contemplative feel it is designed for.

Lithia water is naturally carbonated mineral water piped in from a spring years ago, and it flows from a historic fountain near the park and plaza. You can taste it, and many visitors do so just to say they tried it, but be warned: it is famously strong and salty, with a sulfur tang that many people find genuinely unpleasant. Consider it a quirky local rite of passage rather than a refreshing drink.

Yes, closely. The park sits right beside the Oregon Shakespeare Festival grounds in downtown Ashland, and the two have grown up together as the heart of the town. Many visitors combine a play with a walk in the park, and the festival's long season, running spring through fall, is also when Ashland is liveliest. Note that parking near downtown gets tight during performance times, so arrive early or walk in.

It is a year-round pleasure, but each season has its charm. Spring and summer bring blooming gardens, green creekside shade, and swimming in the reservoir, while fall lights up the maples and the Japanese garden with color. The lower park stays easy to enjoy in winter, though upper trails can get slick in cold, wet weather. Mornings are the quietest time to have the paths mostly to yourself.