Paper pub. date
October 2010
ISBN 9780870715884 (paperback)
6 x 9 inches, 256 pages. Color maps. Color photographs. Tables. Bibliography. Index. Fold-out map.
Out of Print: Replaced by "Forest Park: Portland's Natural Sanctuary"

One City’s Wilderness

Portland’s Forest Park
Third Edition
Marcy Cottrell Houle
Maps by Erik Goetze.
Summary

Situated in the rugged hills west of Portland, Oregon, Forest Park is one of the largest urban parks in the world and the only city wilderness park in the United States. The park is home to hundreds of native plants and animals and offers more than eighty miles of trails—all within minutes of downtown Portland.

This updated and expanded edition of One City’s Wilderness provides directions to twenty-nine hikes of varying length, difficulty, and scenery, covering every trail within the 5,100-acre park. Each hike is accompanied by new, full-color maps, and a fold-out, full-color map of the entire park is included inside the back cover.

Marcy Houle shares the history of Forest Park, introduces the people who fought to preserve it, and explores the role stewards play today. She describes the park’s critical wildlife corridor, its exceptional watersheds, and its important native interior forest habitat. She encourages people of all ages to take an “All Trails Challenge”—learning about the unique nature of the park by exploring every trail.

For its recreational and educational opportunities as well as its extraordinary natural beauty, Forest Park is unquestionably America’s premier urban forest. One City’s Wilderness, in its updated third edition, continues to be the authoritative, complete guide to Portland’s greatest natural resource.

  • Full color trail maps for 29 hikes
  • Fold-out color map of entire park
  • 84 color photographs of native plants and birds
  • Park history, geology, watersheds, vegetation, and wildlife
  • Bird, plant, and mammal checklists

About the author

MARCY COTTRELL HOULE is a writer and wildlife biologist. Her books have been honored with the Christopher Award, the Oregon Book Award, the Oregonian’s Best Books of the Northwest, and New York Times Best Books for Earth Day. She has written articles for the New York Times, Nature Conservancy Magazine, and Cricket Magazine for Children. Marcy lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.


Read more about this author

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