WhereSW Naito Parkway mediannext to Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Photo: daveynin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.The place
A park with one tree, 452 square inches and a record that was lost in 2025.
Mill Ends Park is a small circle two feet across, with a total area of 452 square inches, in the median of SW Naito Parkway next to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, along the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It holds one tree. It is the smallest urban park in the United States.
Guinness first recognized it as the smallest park in the world in 1971. It kept that title until February 2025, when the honor went to a park in Nagaizumi, Japan, that measures 0.24 square meters.
The name comes from a newspaper column, “Mill Ends,” a reference to the leftover odd pieces of wood at lumber mills.
What happened here
A hole for a pole, a columnist and a leprechaun.
In 1948 the spot was meant for a light pole. The pole never arrived and weeds grew in the hole, until Dick Fagan, a columnist for The Oregon Journal whose office overlooked the median, planted flowers there and named it after his column. His story was that he saw a leprechaun digging in the hole, caught it and won a wish. He asked for a park of his own, but since he gave no size, the leprechaun gave him the hole.
He wrote for two decades about the park and its head leprechaun, and even published a threat from the leprechauns about the 11 o’clock curfew on city parks. According to the legend, the leprechauns can only be seen at midnight during a full moon on St. Patrick’s Day, and only by children bringing four-leaf clovers. Fagan died in 1969. The park was dedicated in 1976 as “the only leprechaun colony west of Ireland” and named an official city park that year.
Over the years the circle has held a swimming pool for butterflies with a diving board, a horseshoe, a fragment of the Journal building and a miniature Ferris wheel. It was moved briefly during road construction in 2006 and 2007, and it moved six inches during improvements in 2022. The tree was stolen in 2013 and cut down by a vandal in 2019, and both times it was replaced; it was lost again in a winter storm in 2024. When a town in England complained to Guinness in 2013 that the park was too small to count, volunteers put up a fence a few inches tall and an “armed guard.” St. Patrick’s Day events, with bagpipes and picnics, are still held there.
Photos
The smallest park.
The small stone circle of Mill Ends Park with a young evergreen, two black posts and traffic behind it, in 2007. atul666 from Portland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Mill Ends Park in autumn, with a young conifer in the planter and red-leaved trees behind. EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Overhead view of the park: a young conifer, green clover-like leaves and dark grass in the round planter. EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.The park with a small tree hung with ornaments in December 2015, as a pedestrian crosses the street. Kingofthedead, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.The planter in October 2018 with a leafy shrub, shown beside the Portland Parks & Recreation sign. Lovemedead, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Go and see it
Practical notes.
Mill Ends Park is in the median of SW Naito Parkway, next to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, in downtown Portland near the Willamette River. Tours and activities near Mill Ends Park.
It is tiny and sits in the middle of a busy road, so look for it from the sidewalk and use the crosswalks.
St. Patrick’s Day is the best moment to go, when the park hosts festivities.
Pair it with a walk along Tom McCall Waterfront Park, right next door.
Sold by Viator. Prices and review counts checked on 09/09/2026. This food tour covers downtown Portland, where the park stands; check the itinerary to see whether it passes Mill Ends Park.
Questions people ask
Before you go.
How big is Mill Ends Park?
It is a circle two feet (0.61 m) across, with a total area of 452 square inches (0,292 m²), and it holds one tree.
Is it still the smallest park in the world?
Not officially. Guinness gave it the title in 1971, but in February 2025 the title went to a park in Nagaizumi, Japan. It is still the smallest urban park in the United States.
Who started it?
A newspaper columnist planted flowers in 1948 in an empty hole that had been meant for a light pole, and named the park after his column, “Mill Ends.”
What is the leprechaun story?
The columnist said he caught a leprechaun digging in the hole and won a wish. The legend says the leprechauns are visible only at midnight during a St. Patrick’s Day full moon, and only to children bearing four-leaf clovers.
More to see
Around Portland, Oregon
More things to do around here
Walking tours, day trips and experiences around this area, on GetYourGuide.
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