The 870 Feet That Will Connect George Rogers Park to Roehr and Foothills

The lower parking lot at George Rogers Park holds 20 cars. Two of those spaces are accessible spots and two are five-minute drop-off spaces. The lot has no turnaround and no sidewalks, according to the Old Town Neighborhood Association. The same small lot serves the beach, the walk along the river toward Old River Road, and everyone headed for the Iron Furnace.

About half a mile of shoreline to the north, the riverfront path through Roehr and Foothills parks has stopped short of George Rogers Park for as long as either has existed. Crews are now closing that gap. Project manager Kyra Haggart told City Council in March that the work adds "about 870 feet of new pathway from George Rogers Park to where the trail currently ends in front of the river bend on the Willamette condos," as the Lake Oswego Review reported. Once it's paved, the city's most crowded riverfront park will connect on foot to the parks that have room.

Twenty spaces at one end, room to spare at the other

The connector turns three separate riverfront parks into one continuous 2.25-mile stretch of off-street, multi-use path along the Willamette, from Foothills Park through Roehr Park to George Rogers Park. The City of Lake Oswego's project page says it will also give neighborhoods south of George Rogers Park and Oswego Creek a safe walking and biking connection to downtown.

That changes how you get to George Rogers Park. The Old Town Neighborhood Association describes Roehr Park as the paddleboard launch with plenty of parking. This fall, Parks & Recreation painted the Roehr Park parking lines green to mark designated park parking and restriped the George Rogers Park lot. Both changes appeared in an October update the department sent to the neighborhood association. Once the path is continuous, a car parked by the river at Roehr or Foothills is a flat walk from the Iron Furnace, and no driver has to inch down into the lower George Rogers lot hoping for an open space.

Why 870 feet took two decades

Land acquisition set the pace of this project. Five privately owned properties sit between George Rogers Park and the end of the existing southbound trail, and the path needed an easement across each one. Here is the timeline, drawn from the Review's coverage and the city's project log:

1. 2002. A George Rogers Park master plan included improvements like these, but the plan was never funded.
2. 2004 to 2005. The riverfront parks took their current shape. Lake Oswego bought 5.5 acres of the future Foothills Park from the City of Portland in December 2004 and finished the park in 2005, the same year the lower part of George Rogers Park was upgraded for river access.
3. 2007. Parks & Recreation began securing easements and eventually got three of the five.
4. 2023. The city condemned the remaining two properties to get the easement rights.
5. April 2024. After community engagement, City Council ranked the trail as the top project for Metro Local Share funding. That money can only be spent on the portion of the trail that sits on city-owned park property.
6. December 2025. The project received land use approval.
7. March 31, 2026. Council voted unanimously to fund it at $1.76 million. That total combines $1.14 million in Metro local share dollars, $300,000 in parks system development charges, $240,000 in city park development funds, and an $80,000 Mt. Hood Territory grant.
8. July 15, 2026. Groundbreaking at George Rogers Park, with Daybreak Construction as the contractor.

At the groundbreaking, neighbors recalled that the pathway was being discussed 30 years ago. At the March vote, Mayor Joe Buck tied the city's obligation to the condemnations, in remarks the Review quoted:

"We did condemn these properties to make it happen. I think, especially when we do that, we've got to make this project happen. We can't just get that property and sit on it forever."

What gets built at the George Rogers end

Most of the new construction is a climb. The bend by the Willamette condos sits at river level, and George Rogers Park's memorial lawn sits above it. The city is building a switchback to bridge the two, which it describes as "an ADA compliant pathway with switchbacks, handrails, and landings, providing a safe and accessible route from the memorial lawn to the river's edge at George Rogers Park." City drawings shared with the neighborhood show the connector at 10 feet wide.

At the top, the switchback comes out near the lower-park restrooms and the grass circle. Signs will ask cyclists to walk their bikes around the circle to reach the existing river path toward Old River Road, which is not being widened. The design aims to keep walkers and riders out of the lower parking lot. So at the south end, the new trail moves people from the river up into the park and away from car traffic.

The ground needed planning, too. Neighbors on Furnace Street told the association that crews had hit rock on the switchback. City construction manager Bruce Powers answered through Parks & Recreation: "we were aware that there would be rock and silt in that area. We anticipated those conditions and included a contingency in the project plan."

Where things stand this week

The last stretch of construction overlaps with separate work along the existing path, so both ends of the route have work zones through November:

• The connector. In its October 14 update, the city said retaining walls were underway, asphalt paving was expected in the coming weeks, and concrete work on the switchback was scheduled for October. Parks & Recreation told the neighborhood association that a change involving a neighboring property forced a partial redesign in September, adding a short delay and some extra cost, but that the project is back on track. Paving prep, irrigation, and landscaping along the ramp come next.
• The Roehr Park path. Reconstruction started October 15. Since October 16 the old surface has been torn out and left as gravel until repaving, and work is expected to run through the end of November. The path stays open for walking when crews aren't working, with intermittent closures and possible temporary detours.
• The opening. The city expects to finish in late fall and hold a ribbon-cutting afterward. Parks & Recreation has said it anticipates the celebration in late November but hasn't set a date. The construction signs carry a QR code that links to the city's project page, which is where updates are posted.

So for a weekend walk in early November, expect gravel and fencing at both ends, not a finished route.

The full walk, once the fences come down

Starting from the north end, which has the parking, here is what the 2.25 miles string together:

1. Foothills Park, 199 Foothills Drive. Nine acres on the water, with a covered viewing platform cantilevered over the river and the Stafford Stones, a ring of basalt columns engraved with William Stafford's poetry. The park also has a timber-and-stone picnic pavilion with a fireplace, a reflecting pond, the Lake Oswego Veterans Memorial, and the grass amphitheater that hosts Wednesday evening concerts in July.
2. Roehr Park. A 7.5-acre riverfront strip with viewing decks, lighted pathways, benches, an amphitheater, and access to the Charlie S. Brown Water Sports Center.
3. The bend at the Willamette condos. This is where the trail has always dead-ended, and where the new 870 feet begin.
4. The switchback up to the memorial lawn and grass circle at George Rogers Park.
5. George Rogers Park. Lake Oswego's first community park covers 26 acres. Its Iron Furnace is on the National Register and is one of the few reminders of the city's industrial past. The city says one of the best views of the Willamette is near the furnace in the lower park.

The Old Town Neighborhood Association is already looking ahead to summer. Its October post says that next summer, neighbors will be able to walk or bike to the outdoor concerts at Foothills Park. That works the other way, too. A dinner on State Street near George Rogers Park becomes a riverside walk from Foothills instead of a hunt for parking. KIN Izakaya and Sake Bar opened at 363 S State St in June, and Nicoletta's Table is a few doors down at 333 S State St, Suite M. The Willamette Valley Vineyards restaurant sits at 55 S State St, closer to downtown. Check each restaurant's current hours before you head out.

When the ribbon-cutting date is announced, the city's project page will be the first to have it. If the new connection has you thinking about which streets put you closest to the river, TK Real Estate Group follows projects like this across Lake Oswego and can walk you through how they shape the neighborhoods around them. Schedule a Free Consultation.