What Readers are Saying

From Powells.com customer review:

A great example of how esoteric and magical Portland is. Like the review mentioned, there are so many beautiful off-the-beaten path areas of Portland that many people don't get to experience. The author has taken the time to carefully map out different walking tours all over the Metro area. These are not your average 'nature hikes'. Instead you'll get a real feel for the mix of urban and natural areas of Portland. Plus maps, parking directions, hidden stairways and geological information. Go explore!

Sent to Timber Press:

• I enjoyed this book very much! Having lived in all areas of Portland, I found it explained many things I was curious about
• This is great. Thank you and especially thank the author for this wonderful collection of Portland history!
• Wonderful! A delightful combination of nature and built environment on each walk.
• —I love this book. Each walk is so surprising and interesting. Foster presents it beautifully.

Reader reviews from amazon.com:

• Outstanding book. I walk/hike with two other women once a week. We have found no other book which does what this one does. It not only provides interesting walks acurately, but also covers the history, architecture and plants along the way. I can't say enough about how much we've enjoyed this book.
• Great gift book, for newcomers to Portland and anyone who's lived here for years but has never really gotten to know the city. Portland, Oregon is a treasure, and I personally want to thank Laura Foster for this wonderful book.

Sent to the author:

• I really can't think of a better way to show [visitors] Portland's charms.
• My husband has a big shelf of trail related books…. He says it is the best hiking book he has ever picked up, and can't figure our how you were able to get all that interesting information about the routes.
• I've completed 8 of the walks so far and have discovered parts of Portland I had never seen.  The mix of local history, natural history and treasure hunt is fabulous -- I feel like Harry Potter sometimes going up one staircase and down into another world. 
• Several of us bought your excellent book, Portland Hill Walks. You bring a new dimension to familiar areas by visiting streets and places that we never got to.  That's one reason why we find your walks so interesting.
• I have hiked all around Oregon, and have always been struck, if not dumbstruck by the beauty of Oregon, and its vastly different landscapes and sights.  But I thought the human side of Oregon, our cities and architecture and gardens didn't stand up to the natural world, at least not like Europe.  ….You have shown me that we have a very beautiful city that really captures beauty as well as anything I have seen.  And I, a 3rd generation Oregonian, didn't even know many of the places you describe exist. 
• Thank you for writing Portland Hill Walks--my favorite book purchase of 2005!
• My partner and I have been systematically working our way through the book and we have enjoyed every single walk immensely. I love your writing style and all the fascinating information you include about the features of each walk. I esp. love all the secret paths and alleyways and, of course, all the mossy staircases and crumbling retaining walls. I am learning so much about PDX neighborhoods and history.
• I bought your book a few days ago at Powells and yesterday I took in Walk 1 which was my first visit to that part of Portland. Well I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful walk yesterday and I'm looking forward to the others in the book. Now I must look for a job!