Red Mud Ranch
The History of Red Mud Ranch
A Place Rooted in Redland
Long before Red Mud Ranch became a place for gatherings, music, farming and community, this land was part of a working agricultural landscape that helped shape the Redland community of Clackamas County.
Located at 17721 S. Deininger Road, the property is the historic Deininger farmstead — a piece of land whose story reaches back more than a century and whose name remains preserved in the road that leads to it.
The Deininger family was established in the Redland area by the early 1900s. Historic Oregon newspapers identify John Deininger as a prominent farmer in the central part of Clackamas County and document his connection to the Redland and Logan communities. (Oregon Newspapers)
In 1916, the Oregon City Courier reported on a gathering at the Deininger farm that tells us something about both the land and the people who lived here. Mr. Deininger hosted an old-fashioned barn dance that drew a large crowd. The newspaper also noted that his farm had one of the most modern barns in the county, including a concrete basement capable of housing approximately 40 head of livestock. (Oregon Newspapers)
This wasn’t simply a farm.
It was a working place, a gathering place and a part of the community.
A Farming Community
The Deininger farm existed within the larger historic agricultural community of Redland, a rural settlement named for the distinctive red soil of the area. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, farms, orchards, livestock operations, schools, churches, granges and family homesteads were woven throughout this landscape.
The Redland Post Office was established in 1892, and the Harding Grange was organized in 1894. These institutions reflected a community built around agriculture and neighbors working together. (Oregon Newspapers)
The Deininger name became part of that landscape so thoroughly that it remains with us today in Deininger Road.
The family itself continued to be associated with Redland for generations. Historical records identify John F. Deininger as having been born in Redland in 1906, and later records continue to document the Deininger family in the area. (City of Wilsonville Oregon)
The Land and the Water
There is another layer to the history of this place: its relationship with the surrounding waterways.
Redland lies within the Clear Creek and Clackamas River watershed, an area that became significant not only for agriculture but also for Oregon’s early history of fish conservation. In 1877, one of Oregon’s earliest fish hatcheries was established on the Clackamas River, and a later hatchery operated at the mouth of Clear Creek. (Oregon Newspapers)
The streams, forests, fields and fertile soils that made this area valuable to early farmers are still part of the landscape today.
The land has changed.
The community has changed.
But the geography that made this place special remains.
From Farmstead to Gathering Place
There is something fitting about the fact that Red Mud Ranch continues to bring people together.
More than a century ago, neighbors gathered at the Deininger farm for a barn dance. Today, people come to Red Mud Ranch for music, camping, celebrations, outdoor experiences and community gatherings.
The purpose has evolved, but the spirit of the place has not.
People still come here to gather.
They come to slow down, make something, listen to music, work with their hands, spend time outside, share food and reconnect with one another.
That continuity is part of what makes Red Mud Ranch special.
Honoring What Came Before
Today, the land is being given another chapter.
Flutterby Farm grows from the belief that land can do more than produce food. It can teach. It can restore confidence. It can create community. It can give people a place to breathe, learn, make things, grow something with their own hands and remember that they are capable of creating something meaningful.
That feels especially appropriate here.
The Deininger farm was built around agriculture, livestock, hard work and community. More than a hundred years later, we want to carry those values forward while making room for something new.
We honor the people who worked this land before us by continuing to work with it — not simply taking from it, but learning from it, caring for it and sharing what it can teach.
Red Mud Ranch is not a new story.
It is an old piece of Oregon still writing itself.
And Common Ground is simply the next chapter.
Farmed For Over A Century
Red Mud Ranch is a multi-generational farm actively undergoing restoration. We’ve chosen to open its gates while it’s still in process, not when it’s perfectly finished. This 88-acre property along Clear Creek in Oregon City has over 100 years of history feeding families and gathering people. In recent years it has hosted joyful music festivals like Stringbender and Mojo Family Fest, with camping, creek floats, live music, and strong community energy. Now we’re in a new chapter: gently restoring it’s purpose, building hugelkultur beds, tending the greenhouse, caring for the water and it’s forest, just to name a few — all at a human pace.
Experiences that connect
Signature nature connection experiences
- Forest bathing & sensory nature immersion: Slow, guided walks along the meadow-forest edge and near Clear Creek. The sound of water, birdsong, and the honest "in-process" landscape make this deeply regulating for the nervous system.
- Foraging & wildcrafting walks: Seasonal identification and gentle harvesting of edible and medicinal plants right on the recovering land. Participants learn sustainable practices while connecting with the farm’s ongoing restoration.
- Creek-side mindfulness & reflection: Quiet time by Clear Creek — listening to the water, journaling, or simple breathwork. Many people describe this as one of the most grounding parts of their visit.
Fostering connection, community, and sovereignty
At its heart, Red Mud Ranch is about Common Ground — creating space for people to reconnect with the land, with themselves, and with each other. Here’s how we do it:
Deepening personal connection to the land
- The farm offers an honest, living landscape along Clear Creek that invites presence rather than performance.
- Activities like forest bathing, creek-side mindfulness, foraging walks, regenerative farming practices, agricultural ed and land observation help people slow down and build a direct, sensory relationship with nature.
- Being on land that is visibly “in process” gives permission to be unfinished themselves — many visitors report finally relaxed here.
Building real community
- Small, intimate groups (6–12 people) operating in the lower area create the conditions for genuine connection instead of superficial mingling.
Our History
Long before Red Mud Ranch became a place for ecological education, restoration, and community gathering, this land was shaped by the hardworking families who settled the Clackamas Basin in the early 1900s. Among them were the Deiningers, whose stewardship and agricultural vision helped establish the ranch as a working homestead tied deeply to the rhythms of Clear Creek and the surrounding valley.
Like many farms of the era, survival here depended on resilience, ingenuity, and a close relationship with the land and water. In the 1910s, an early gravity-fed water and irrigation system was implemented to support the property’s agricultural production and long-term sustainability. Those systems helped transform the land into a productive farmstead capable of supporting crops, livestock, and future generations.
Over the decades, the ranch evolved alongside the changing landscape of Oregon agriculture. Floods, shifting weather patterns, economic transitions, and changing land use all left their mark on the property. Yet the core spirit of stewardship remained — a recognition that healthy land requires care, adaptation, and respect for the natural systems that sustain it.
Today, Red Mud Ranch carries that legacy forward in a new way. What was once a historic working farm is becoming a living field site for ecological restoration, mycology, herbalism, regenerative land practices, arts, education, and community connection. We honor the resilience of those who came before us while helping cultivate a future rooted in restoration, reciprocity, and relationship with the land.
At Common Ground on Red Mud Ranch, history is not something left behind — it is something we continue to participate in, steward, and pass forward.
From modest beginnings, we've grown through unwavering dedication and a commitment to continuous improvement. Each step has reinforced our core belief in the power of collaboration and the importance of integrity. We're passionate about what we do, and we're excited to share our story with you.