One City’s Wilderness

Portland’s Forest Park

Third Edition
Marcy Cottrell Houle
Maps by Erik Goetze

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 illustrated with a new, full-color map, 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 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. The book also includes bird, plant, and mammal checklists and eighty-four color photographs of native plants and birds.

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.

Publisher: Oregon State University Press
The book is 6x9 inches, 256 pages. Color maps, color photographs, bibliography, index and fold-out overview map. ISBN 978-0-87071-588-4.

Powell’s link
Amazon link

Cartographer's notes This was an exciting project that built on my existing Forest Park map and took it to the next level. It was an honor to be picked to make this book's maps, and a pleasure to work with Marcy. OSU Press made it as easy as possible to be part of a wonderful book's rebirth. The printing quality of the color maps exceeds what I thought was possible for a paperback.

I'll post more details about the maps in the book and a small sample in the Art of Geography map area.

Events

I'll be at the following events which will feature this book: Audubon Society's Wild Arts Festival

For over 29 years the Audubon Society of Portland has celebrated the Wild Arts Festival, which has brought together an eclectic mix of artists and authors all with a soft spot in their hearts for the natural world. The Festival is one of the Society's premier fundraising events, with all proceeds going to support the many critical education, conservation, and animal rehabilitation programs we support. Authors who will be participating this year include Ursula K. Le Guin, Robert Michael Pyle, Marcy Houle, Robin Cody and James Davis- to name just a few. We will have about 16 authors each day.

This year the Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, November 20-21 -- the weekend before Thanksgiving -- at Montgomery Park.

One City's Wilderness Book Signing

Monday, November 29 at NW Natural, 5:30pm