Smiley Face Forest: Oregon’s Happy Hillside
The general consensus is that Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth. Or, maybe the happiest place on Earth is the country of Finland—which consistently ranks very high in all quality of life polls. Residents of Oregon know that the happiest place on Earth is in fact a green hillside visible from Route 18 near Willamina, Oregon which sports a yellow smiley face made entirely out of fir trees that is visible every fall.
In 2011, two Hampton Lumber employees decided to create an arboreal design that would evoke joy in every person who saw it. Dennis Creel and David Hampton designed a smiley face similar to an emoji that would greet motorists as they drove through rural Oregon. Creel and Hampton created the smiley face by planting a mixture of larch—which is a type of fir tree that turns yellow in the fall—and evergreen Douglas fir trees. Larch trees form a circular face, and Douglas fir trees form wide, happy eyes and a smiling mouth.
Planting fir trees in a circular design was no easy feat. After a decade in existence, the larch and Douglas fir tree smiley face is just now starting to slightly fade. Representatives at Hampton Lumber estimate that in 3-5 decades, all of the trees that form the smiley face will be harvested and converted into lumber which will be used to build houses and other building projects.
Countless weary motorists traveling Oregon’s Route 18 have spontaneously smiled as soon as they spotted a big bright smiley face made out of fir trees on the horizon. Many Willamina residents hope that once the celebrated fir tree smiley face is no more another circle of smiling fir trees will spring up in its place. Few things inspire more spontaneous glee than the sight of a ring of happy trees.
UnusualPlaces Field Notes
- Location
- Oregon Route 18 observation area near milepost 25, between Grand Ronde and Willamina, Polk County, Oregon, USA
- Coordinates
- 45.048714, -123.5241
- Access
- The smiley is planted on Hampton Lumber land and is visible from Oregon Highway 18 between Grand Ronde and Willamina. No visitor entrance or safe parking area is documented. Treat it as a drive-by view only: do not enter the timberland or stop on the highway shoulder. Hampton’s current recreation rules require permits for designated forestlands and warn visitors to check closures.
- Admission
- No ticket is listed for looking at the hillside from the public highway; the company-owned hillside is not established as a visitor attraction and no permission to enter it is documented. Do not treat the public-road view as permission to enter private timberland.
- Time needed
- No visit duration is published, and no safe visitor stopping place is documented. It is a roadside view to notice while travelling on Highway 18, not a walk-up stop; do not stop or park on the shoulder.
- Best season
- The larch needles give the smile its yellow-orange color in autumn. Oregon State Alumni says it is most visible roughly from Halloween through Thanksgiving; color and visibility vary with conditions, and the trees can change over time.
- Opening hours
- There are no published visitor opening hours because this is not a developed public site. The hillside is private timberland; only view it while safely travelling on the public highway. Hampton requires permits for designated Oregon forest parcels and posts changing fire closures, but no public walk-in access for this viewing site is documented.
- Location checked
- 2026-09-29
- Facts checked
- 2026-10-17
Map marks the area, not a visitor entrance.
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