Entry No. 19 — the Portland file — filed under: folk art environment
Enchanted Forest
One man, Roger Tofte, bought 20 acres in 1964 and built this fairy-tale park by hand, nights and weekends, mixing cement 'one bag at a time' while repairing watches to fund it — colleagues called it 'Idiot Hill.' It finally opened in 1971 with a butcher-paper sign reading 'OPEN,' and the hand-sculpted Storybook Trail, Tofteville western town, and Old English Village he built are all still standing, run today by his family.
The story
In 1964, a local watch repairman named Roger Tofte put down his savings on 20 acres of dense, hilly timberland off Interstate 5 near Turner. His coworkers laughed off the purchase, calling the wooded patch 'Idiot Hill.' Tofte ignored them. For seven straight years, working late nights and weekends around his day job fixing timepieces, he mixed concrete one bag at a time, hand-sculpting storybook figures, winding pathways, and crooked cottages straight out of his head without architectural blueprints.
When Tofte finally taped a handwritten butcher-paper sign reading 'OPEN' near the road in 1971, he was inviting the public into a purely personal obsession. He didn't sell out to corporate operators as the park grew; instead, he spent decades laying down Tofteville western town and an Old English Village alongside his family, who still run the grounds. The result is a sprawling, living folk-art environment that somehow survived the modern amusement park arms race entirely on hand-slathered mortar and family persistence.
What it's like
Stepping onto the grounds feels less like visiting a slick commercial theme park and more like trespassing in someone's hyper-fixated backyard art project that got wonderfully out of hand. You'll wander past uncanny cement trees, subterranean grottoes, and tilted timber structures before finding the Tofte Art & Memorabilia display, which lays bare the tools, sketches, and sweat that forged the place. The lines for the rides can stretch on warm weekends, but adults without kids routinely make the trip just to walk the shadowy, hand-sculpted Storybook Trail early in the day when the woods are quiet.
The move: Skip the coaster line and just walk Storybook Trail and the hand-built Old English Village together, then find the Tofte Art & Memorabilia display that traces one obsessive guy's decades of concrete sculpting.
- 📍 Turner, near Salem
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 8462 Enchanted Way SE, Turner, OR 97392
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Vonhelmick Knife Company — Double down on Polk County hand-craftsmanship by spending a day forging a custom steel blade after exploring Tofte's hand-poured concrete kingdom.
- Portland Troll Bridge (Ole Bolle Trestle) — Swap Tofte's sculpted, fairytale forest for a dark wooden railroad trestle colonized by hundreds of plastic troll dolls.
- Bagby Hot Springs — Trade hand-slathered cement trees for hand-hewn cedar log tubs hollowed out deep in the old-growth forest.
Good to know
Is Enchanted Forest worth visiting if you don't have kids?
Yes. Beyond the rides, adults frequently visit to experience the incredible folk-art architecture, outsider concrete sculpting, and solitary walking paths along the Storybook Trail.
Where exactly is the park located?
It sits just off Interstate 5 at 8462 Enchanted Way SE in Turner, Oregon, a short drive south of Salem.
Who built Enchanted Forest?
Watch repairman Roger Tofte built the park by hand over seven years starting in 1964, funding it one bag of cement at a time. It remains owned and operated by the Tofte family.
What highlights shouldn't be missed?
Make time for the hand-built Storybook Trail, the Tofteville western town, the Old English Village, and the dedicated display showing Tofte's original artwork and concrete-sculpting history.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · traveloregon.com · Reddit
last checked: 2026-07-20