Orchards, WA

Orchards still carries the result of a 1904 naming vote. The southern Clark County community had been called Fourth Plain, a name linked to an 1846 Hudson's Bay Company survey that numbered open plains in the woods around Fort Vancouver. Residents chose Orchards for the fruit trees then growing in the area. The present census-designated place lies immediately north of Vancouver's city limits and includes Sifton in its southern section. Its population rose from 19,556 in 2010 to 27,729 in the 2020 census. Those residents occupied 5.35 square miles in 2020, a density of about 5,180 people per square mile. Clark County's 33-acre Orchards Community Park is the clearest shared outdoor space. Wooded walking trails and picnic areas adjoin open lawns, play equipment, a reservable shelter, and a rose garden maintained by the Vancouver Sunrise Rotary Club.

In 2026, the county was designing a substantial update that calls for water play, two replacement playground structures, a new pavilion, repaved access routes, a relocated restroom, and more parking; the design schedule targeted construction, excluding any later planting, for completion in December 2027. The county plans to retain the park's forest and trail. Orchards Highlands Neighborhood Park adds 8.7 wooded acres, play equipment, benches, and short paved paths. Public transportation follows the area's older regional connections: C-TRAN's Route 72 Orchards runs on weekdays between Northeast 152nd Avenue at 80th Street and Van Mall Transit Center from early morning into the evening. At the transit center, riders can transfer to the Vine's Fourth Plain line for service toward central Vancouver.