Environmental Learning Center

The John Inskeep Environmental Learning Center (ELC) is a treasure trove for nature lovers. Here you can follow a meandering waterway, spot many different bird species, and listen to rustling trees and singing frogs. Located on the edge of Clackamas Community College's Oregon City campus, the ELC is a special place for all to enjoy.

The ELC offers many opportunities for adults and children alike to explore and learn about the outdoors through hands-on environmental education: field trips and camps for K-12 students, continuing education trainings for professionals, and workshops and special events for community members.

Our beautiful amphitheater and rustic buildings are ideal for classes, but also for weddings, business retreats and meetings. Come join us at the ELC!

What can you do at the ELC?

Upcoming Events

Visit our EventBrite page to learn of upcoming events at the Environmental Learning Center.

Learn more and register

The Environmental Learning Center is a critical wetland

Newell Creek bubbles to life here, fed by underground springs and stormwater runoff from the campus and surrounding areas. The water in Newell Creek flows through the 1,800-acre Newell Creek watershed, the largest intact green space in the south metro area. It then connects with Abernethy Creek and continues on into the Willamette River, the Columbia River and ultimately into the Pacific Ocean.

The water flowing into the ELC provides critical wetland habitat for wildlife, but stormwater carries pollutants with it. Our functional wetland cleanses and cools this water, ensuring that what goes downstream is healthier than what entered the site. The Environmental Learning Center is open daily from dawn to dusk. Come explore trails and discover native plants and wildlife. For more information on our programs and workshops, please call 503-594-3015.

Background

In 2014 Clackamas Community College applied for and received a Metro Nature in Neighborhoods grant for the Newell Creek Headwaters Restoration and Education project (aka ELC).

The ELC has a rich history as an educational resource for the College, regional schools, industry, and the community. Located on the former site of a Smucker's processing plant, the ELC was created to demonstrate what people could do to reclaim industrial sites, address stormwater issues, and restore wildlife habitat in urban areas. Each year thousands of people visit the ELC to explore the site and learn about watershed health. The site serves as an important stormwater facility for the College campus and provides critical wetland habitat for resident and migratory birds, such as great blue heron, wood duck, and merganser.

The ELC site is a conduit for stormwater for nearly half of the College's 165-acre campus, plus stormwater from Oregon City High School, and other areas along Beavercreek Road. The original ELC ponds were once considered state-of-the-art, but they no longer functioned effectively for stormwater management. The need for a larger-scale stormwater management system, coupled with the spread of invasive plants left the site physically degraded, and impaired the quality of water flowing from the ELC downstream into the Newell Creek Canyon. Because it is the headwaters of Newell Creek, the ELC plays a vital role in the overall health of the watershed. Newell Creek will not be adequately protected until the water that flows through the ELC site can be effectively cooled and filtered.

An ancestral homeland to the Clackamas people

We acknowledge that the Environmental Learning Center resides on the traditional homelands of the Clackamas, Cascades, and Tumwater bands of Chinooks, as well as the Tualatin and Pudding River bands of Kalapuya and the Northern Molalla people. They lived and prospered by maintaining strong cultural ties to the land, and through wise management of resources. As signers of the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855, they were removed from their homelands to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation where they became members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

We thank and honor the original caretakers of this land, their lives, and their descendants that live on as Tribal members today, still carrying on the traditions and cultures of their ancestors.

Directions to the ELC

Clackamas Community College is located at 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City 97045. We are located near the intersection of Hwy 213 and Beavercreek Rd, about three miles south of I-205 (Exit 10).

The Environmental Learning Center is on the northeast edge of campus. The easiest route is to use the back entrance to the campus, off of Beavercreek Road. Take a right on Douglas Loop, and then another right onto Inskeep Drive. A sign for the Environmental Learning Center can be seen at its entrance, with parking available just past the entrance.

Connect with us

Like Us On Facebook and enjoy the ever-changing seasons and happenings at the ELC!

We invite you to help preserve this gem so that the entire community can learn and have fun here for many years to come. Give to the Environmental Learning Center.

ELC Sponsors

Support the ELC at CCC and help grow hands-on environmental education for all ages. Your sponsorship helps provide community events, field trips, workshops, and habitat restoration projects that connect people with nature and inspire environmental stewards.