Why isn’t Silver Falls a national park?

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks about upgrades coming to Silver Falls State Park along with places in Oregon that almost became national parks — but never quite made the cut.

In the first half of the show, Urness talks about the new outdoors shop, campground and visitor center planned as part of expanding development at Oregon’s largest state park.

In the second half, Urness talks about why Silver Falls didn’t become a national park — even through it was strongly considered back in the 1920s.

He also talks about five other Oregon locations that almost became national parks but were held back for different reasons.

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Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 18 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors and BlueSky at oregonoutdoors.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon spots that were almost national parks, including Silver Falls