Forest Park: Exploring Portland's Natural Sanctuary (Book)

Situated in the rugged hills west of downtown Portland, Forest Park is the nation’s premier urban natural sanctuary. It supports essential habitat for hundreds of native plants and animals, including species at risk, and is one of the largest city parks in the world. While extending critical ecosystem services to the region, it offers miles of outstanding hiking trails, all within minutes of the downtown core.

Forest Park: Exploring Portland’s Natural Sanctuary by Marcy Cottrell Houle showcases the treasures of Forest Park in a new light, offering a compendium of the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available. Twenty-one hikes covering seventy-five miles bring a full awareness of the park’s outstanding attributes. Hikes are grouped by theme to encourage people to explore Forest Park’s watersheds, geology, lichens and mosses, vegetation, amphibians and reptiles, pollinators, native wildlife, and wildlife corridors. Beautiful photographs and full-color maps accompany each trail description.

This book is a perfect companion and guide for the explorers and nature lover curious about the wonders and adventures to be had in Forest Park. Highly recommended!

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.