Collier Memorial State Park

Collier Memorial State Park is a state park in southern Oregon. The park is operated and maintained by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. It is located on U.S. Highway 97, approximately 30mi north of Klamath Falls and 105mi south of Bend. The park covers along the Williamson River.HistoryThe park was established in 1945 when two brothers from Klamath Falls, Alfred and Andrew Collier, donated to the state of Oregon. The land was to be used for a park honoring their parents, Charles Morse Collier and Janet McCornack Collier.In 1947, the Collier brothers donated a collection of antique logging equipment to be displayed as an outdoor logging museum on the park grounds. The equipment shows the evolution of the logging industry from axes and oxen to diesel tractors and logging trucks. The museum also highlights the role railroads played in developing the timber industry. Alfred Collier continued to add to the collection until his death in 1988. As a result, the museum has one of the largest collections of logging equipment in the world.Collier Logging MuseumCollier Memorial State Park features the Collier Logging Museum, an outdoor museum with a large collection of historic logging equipment. Some items date back to the 1880s and many are quite rare. The collection includes ox drawn "high wheels" used to raise the forward end of logs off the ground so they could be skidded through the forest to a collection area. Steam-powered "donkey engines" used steel cables to haul logs to a collection point. There are also steam tractors and diesel "cats" that performed the same function in their turn. The most modern piece of logging equipment on display is a Beloit tree harvester. The harvester, operated by one person, cuts trees near ground level using hydraulic blades, removes the limbs, and stacks the logs onto a logging truck all in one continuous operation.