Portland Forest Hikes

(Paperback)

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Description

Here are twenty wilderness hikes within twenty miles of downtown Portland, Oregon, less than a half hour's ride from the city. Adventurers at all skill levels will be surprised by the remoteness and remarkable beauty of these easy woodland escapes. Just take this pocket-sized companion and slip down a hidden trail to emerge on vistas with eagles soaring overhead. There are shorter walks suitable for kids, like the McCarthy Creek Loop, and rugged routes for the ambitious, like the Fire Lane 12 loop. Each hike description includes a map, bus access, basic conditions, length, and grade, as well as flora, fauna, geology, and local history. Half the trails explore lesser-known wooded hillsides in Forest Park. Others venture farther north in the Tualatin Mountains into rarely described prime Oregon hiking country. A devoted advocate for Portland's wilderness areas, James D. Thayer has surveyed most of the publicly accessible walking routes along the Tualatin Mountains from Forest Park to Scappoose and nearly to the Oregon coast - on foot.

Reviews

Reveals the less-traveled parts of Forest Park and provides new information on exploring the northern Tualatin Mountains beyond the park boundaries. -- Jeff Baker Oregonian 20080815 We're impressed. It's a glove compartment companion dedicated to the proposition that you can have your hike and read it, too. -- John Minervini Willamette Week 20080930

Author Bio

James D. Thayer was president of the Friends of Forest Park at a time when the organization grew to prominence through advocacy, focusing on trying to preserve unimpeded wildlife access by purchasing strategic parcels inside and beyond the park. He has surveyed over 60 miles of trails, fire lanes, and logging roads and has mapped many trails, tracks, bushwhacks, and bramble-clogged scrambles in the Portland area. Thayer has served as senior manager at the Portland Development Commission and as a senior international economic development officer for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. In 1989 he founded the international marketing consultancy Overseas Strategic Services, helping U.S. companies find markets abroad. He has also served as president of the World Affairs Council of Oregon. Starting in 1992 he helped launch the international sales and marketing for a series of successful Oregon-based technology ventures. He serves as the president of the Southwest Hills Residential League neighborhood association and sits on the board of the Portland-Bologna Sister City association. He earned a bachelor's degree from Reed College and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.