A 30-mile trail running through a forest inside city limits sounds unlikely, but Portland has exactly that — and it just became the setting for a major film. LAIKA's stop-motion adaptation of Wildwood, released October 23, brings Colin Meloy's beloved book series to the screen, and its "Impassable Wilderness" is none other than Forest Park, the vast green space on the city's west side.
Meloy, frontman of the Decemberists, wrote the series while living in the Forest Park neighbourhood with his wife, illustrator Carson Ellis. The books follow Portland teen Prue, who ventures into the woods to rescue her baby brother after he's snatched by crows. Ellis has a point when she says the park looks enchanted from the air: it's a giant swath of forest ringed by dense urban development, despite having been clear-cut less than a century ago. Real landmarks get woven in too — Pittock Mansion, the historic house with connecting trails, doubles as a government building for the story's woodland creatures.
The city has leaned fully into the moment. LAIKA scattered 30 hand-painted crows around Portland, stashed books and movie tickets in Little Free Libraries, and teamed up with local institutions including Powell's Books, Voodoo Donuts and Stumptown Coffee (look out for Prue's Blackberry Maple Fog Latte). Themed hikes through the park are running alongside the release.
For travellers, the real draw is the Wildwood Trail itself. At 30.2 miles, it's the longest urban forest trail in the United States, running the entire length of Forest Park from a trailhead on Newberry Road to Washington Park. Expect fern-filled canyons, small creeks and green so thick it feels absurd just minutes from downtown. Runners and casual walkers share the path daily, and production designer Nelson Lowry — who lives nearby and studied Oregon's native plants for the film — says repeat visits always reveal something new.
The film also tours Oregon's greatest hits: an eagle-back flight carries Prue past the Painted Hills, Haystack Rock, Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. But the woods are the heart of it, and Lowry's team built the forest floor by hand, layering materials to capture centuries of natural decay. Even if you never see the movie, the message lands: slow down, walk without a goal, and pay attention. Portland proves you don't need to leave a city to feel properly lost in the wild.
