Lacamas Park Lily Field

From Portland Hikers Field Guide

Camas and Rosy Plectritis in the Lacamas Park Lily Field (Steve Hart)

Early morning Camas (Steve Hart)

Poison oak grows on the edge on the field (Steve Hart)

Hikes to this location:
- Lacamas Park Lily Field Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
Latitude: 45.60212
Longitude: -122.39843
Maps: Portland Hikers Maps Google Earth
Elevation: 350 feet

1 Description
2 Trip Reports
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Description

The city of Camas, Washington was named for the Camas plant. Camas was a very important component of Native American life. The roots were dug up, dried and saved for food use. There's another very similar looking poisonous plant called Death Camas. This forced the people to harvest Camas in the spring when the plants were in bloom. Every year the people gathered in the meadows amidst the purple flowers to gather the roots.

Unfortunately, as the area around Camas was developed, most of the Camas fields were plowed and became cropland. Other areas were built upon or planted as orchards. Very few Camas meadows survived.

Today, most of the remaining Camas areas are parts of parks. The area signed as the "Lily Fields" is in the highest area of Lacamas Park. While people rarely eat Camas anymore, they do still gather amidst the purple flowers each April, now with cameras and sketch pads.