WJ Skatepark + Urban Plaza is a free public skatepark situated on a half-acre under Interstate 105 near downtown Eugene, making it one of the largest covered skateparks in Oregon since its opening in 2014. It also has some of the longest skatepark operating hours, open daily from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. As its hours suggest, WJ is skateable most of the night, and because it has an ostensible roof in the form of the highway above, you can still skate a good amount of the park even if it’s raining (use your judgment). That means people like Bend skateboarder Kevin Matwich, 23, can make the 2.5 drive to Eugene and skate well into the night, which is exactly what he did a couple of weeks ago when he and three friends drove to Eugene at 6 p.m., skated at WJ until midnight and arrived back in Bend during the predawn hours.

“I had been there probably three times prior, not too much,” Matwich said, who grew up skating at Ponderosa, a park on Bend’s east side that is home to two skateparks — an older one from the late ’90s off 15th Street and the newer one with an entrance on Wilson Avenue just west of 15th.

What Matwich likes about WJ — and you may too, should you accept this spring break assignment and go to Eugene — is the park’s “flow,” which refers to a skatepark’s design — how well, and how satisfyingly for the rider, various obstacles are linked.

“Every obstacle sends you into another obstacle, like, just endless lines,” Matwich said.

WJ was designed and built by the renowned Oregon-based Dreamland Skateparks, LLC. The company also built three in Central Oregon: Redmond Skatepark (opened in 2001), Madras Bike + Skatepark (2005) and Prineville Skatepark (2019).

Asked to compare WJ Skatepark to those other Dreamland parks closer to home, Matwich said, “It’s bigger, and the concrete feels different, like they buffed the s— out of it at WJ.”

It’s true that the concrete feels different, which may be attributable to the many vehicles constantly passing overhead — there’s just something a little slick, even greasy, about WJ. At any rate, many skaters advise slightly softer wheels for better traction when riding there.

Matwich also believes a lot of thought went into the functionality of the Eugene park.

“Eugene’s population, I think, had an influence on that. Redmond can get overwhelming with a lot of people, and WJ, I think, was built to handle that,” he said. The more recently built Prineville Skatepark, he believes, is informed by a similar sensibility as WJ.

“I think they put a lot of functionality, a WJ-esque twist on the Prineville park, because of the street obstacles,” he said.

“You can kind of tell the influence on the park based on who showed up at the (public input) meetings, and who really pushed to have a street section in Prineville. … Madras, I think that’s the perfect park for how small of a population there is. There’s some little stuff and it gets progressively larger.”

Getting there: WJ Skatepark + Urban Plaza is located between Washington and Jefferson streets at First Avenue beneath the I-105 bridge in Eugene.