Unincorporated Oregon City
Oregon City's destination extends well beyond its city limits. The surrounding unincorporated communities of Clackamas County, from the riverside enclave of Carver to the rolling farmland of Carus, share the Oregon City mailing address or zip code, and many fall within the Oregon City School District. These are the places locals know by the back roads that lead to them: quiet agricultural stretches, U-pick farms, glamping sites and cabin accommodations, hidden wineries, river access points, and communities with their own distinct characters and histories.
Travel Oregon City includes these communities in its destination story because explorers don't stop at city limit signs — and neither do we. This series of community profiles is an invitation to explore the broader Oregon City area, one neighborhood, hamlet, and crossroads at a time.
Carver
Tucked along the Clackamas River about ten miles northeast of downtown Oregon City, Carver is a small riverside community beloved by kayakers, river tubers, anglers, and anyone who knows to take the back road. The Carver Bridge, rebuilt in 2019, and the adjacent Carver Park make it one of the most accessible river access points in the region.
Read more about Carver here, in our Unincorporated Oregon City blog series.
Central Point
Tucked into the agricultural countryside between Oregon City and Canby along Central Point Road, this quiet rural area is home to wonderful agritourism experiences and one of the region's most distinctive hidden gems: Villa Catalana Cellars, a boutique winery of fewer than 500 cases a year built in the style of a 12th-century Romanesque church from Catalonia, Spain.
Feature article coming soon.
Redland
Redland sits about six miles east of Oregon City and four miles south of Carver, named for the distinctive red color of its soil. It's quiet, rural, and agricultural. Christmas tree farms are a signature feature of the landscape, and the area has a strong sense of old Clackamas County character.
Want to help us write an article about Redland? Share your story with us via email: admin@traveloregoncity.com
Beavercreek
Located about six miles southeast of Oregon City, Beavercreek made history in 2006 when its residents voted to establish Oregon's first official "hamlet" — a unique form of community self-governance recognized by Clackamas County. The community gets its name from a creek that runs through it toward the Willamette, and it retains a distinctly rural, agricultural character.
Stay tuned for a new article highlighting Beavercreek in the Unincorporated Oregon City series.
New Era
Located about five miles southwest of town near the intersection of Highway 99E and South End Road, New Era carries one of the more intriguing origin stories in the County. Named either for a Spiritualist religious settlement that formed on a hill above in the 1870s, or for the arrival of the railroad which opened new river transportation routes to the Willamette. Both Coalca's Pillar and Pearson's Art Gallery are located here for intrepid explorers.
Carus
Carus is located about seven miles south of Oregon City along OR 213, at the edge of where the Portland Metro gives way to open Clackamas County farmland. It had a post office as early as 1887, and today the Carus area is known for its rural acreage, equestrian properties, and the quiet pace of the working landscape surrounding it.
The stunning landscape is home to Brightwater Weddings & Events and Chateau de Lis for those looking for a destination wedding outside the Metro center.