Along the Willamette, Eugene's Riverbank Paths Tie the City Together
The Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System runs on both banks of the Willamette River through the heart of Eugene — a commute route, a training ground and a front-row seat on the river, all at once.
The Willamette River does not pass Eugene by; it runs through the middle of daily life here, and the easiest way to see that is from the bike path. The Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System is a collection of interconnected multi-use paved paths on both banks of the river, linking Eugene and Springfield through parks, open space and neighborhoods, and crossing the water on a series of bicycle and pedestrian bridges that turn the two banks into one big loop system.
The system is named for Ruth Bascom, Eugene's first female mayor and a tireless advocate for biking and walking. It is a fitting memorial, because the paths are where Eugene's identity as a cycling and running city is most visible: commuters riding to the university and downtown, runners logging miles beside Alton Baker Park, families walking the bridges, and anglers and birdwatchers claiming the quieter stretches of bank.
Stand on the Whilamut Passage Bridge and look east along the river, as our photograph does, and the valley opens up — water, cottonwoods and the low hills beyond Springfield. Down at path level, the same river is a working landscape: herons in the shallows, osprey overhead in season, and the constant, patient traffic of people moving under their own power. Few American cities give a river this central a role in how residents actually get around.
November changes the paths' character. The crowds thin, the river runs higher and faster with the rains, and the regulars — the year-round commuters and dawn runners — have the banks largely to themselves. Shorter days make lights and reflective gear part of the etiquette, and fallen leaves make the paved surfaces slick in the corners. The paths stay open; they just ask for a little more respect.
This is the first of many river stories from Eugene Track Town News. The Willamette is our geography, our recreation and increasingly our mirror — how Eugene treats its river says a great deal about how it treats itself. We intend to keep walking it, riding it and reporting from its banks.
