Nearing Its Third Year, Indian Creek Poetry Walk Seeks Submissions
By Vicki Hillhouse
If the wondrous wooded beauty of Indian Creek Trail leaves you at a loss for words, a series of signs along the winding path can help you find some. The trail’s twists lead to literary turns of phrase with 20 nature-themed poems posted throughout the journey.
“And what about the pinecone, with its mysterious labyrinth! Should we not place its coneprint on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?” —from “Planet of Peculiar Championships” by Monique Mos
The Indian Creek Poetry Walk is a collaboration between the Hood River County Library and Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District. Driven by a steering committee, the project features poems situated throughout the beloved 4.5-mile trail system that stretches across the lower Hood River Valley from Hazel Avenue on the east to Barrett Park on the rural west side of Hood River.
The first installation came in 2025. Each installation lasts six months—the start of April through the end of September. Nearing the end of the second year, organizers are calling for submissions for 2027. Participation is open to poets who live or have roots in the mid-Columbia Gorge—they need not be current residents.
Poems should be nature-themed, reflecting the region’s culture, history and character—perfect for the intersection of art and nature.
“Sneaking out of high school (go Eagles!) on hidden trails, I sought solace in the quiet waters of the dark forest. One last, long breath, before being flung out into savage civilization.” —from “Return of the Prodigal” by Fred Stager
The concept for the poetry walk was inspired by similar endeavors Hood River resident Paul Woolery has seen in his travels and time in other communities, including Helvetia, West Virginia, and along the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Poetry was not only part of the early bond he forged when he and his wife spent their first days together, it also became helpful in his work as a therapist, from which he is now retired.
“I think what I love about a poem is the way it keeps becoming more meaningful over time,” Paul says. “A good poem breaks all the rules of syntax and uses language in surprising ways that creates an experience that you can’t explain by taking it apart and looking at the words.
“I love it when I read a poem and I don’t really understand it, but I’m moved by it anyway. I’m drawn to go back and keep reading it. Each time I do, it speaks to me more and becomes something that I fall in love with.”
Paul approached the library’s director about duplicating a poetry walk here, and the wheels were put in motion. The first year’s poems were selected from the suggestions of the seven-member steering committee. Fourteen poems were initially approved. The smaller number allowed organizers to test the aesthetic and get a feel for whether the project was a good fit.
“Any time we’re doing something like this, especially with public property, you want to be careful about setting a precedent,” says Mark Hickok, Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District executive director.
With a maintenance plan, dimensions for the posts and signs and locations for the poems in place, installation was the next step. Once the first year was deemed a success, expansion to 20 poems came last April with a more directed target at local poets or those connected to the area.
“I have seen a tree split in two from the weight of its opposing branches. It can survive, though its heart is exposed. I have seen a country do this too.” —from “The Forest for the Trees” by Lummi American poet and former Washington state Poet Laureate Rena Priest
The pieces, accompanied by local photography, are designed to work in tandem with the natural beauty of the area, from views of Mount Hood and the orchards to a stroll alongside a historic water flume.
“It’s so easy to miss so much that is right in front of us,” Paul says. “I’m so grateful to naturalists and scientists who take the time to go deep. I think that’s true of poetry as well. I hope that having the poetry signs on the trail will inspire people to go deeper into considering poems and finding value for poetry in their own lives.”
“Then I remember that I am a child of this planet and a citizen of this world, and I am grateful to walk these paths that Mother Earth lays at my feet.” —from “The Trails of Memories” by Arturo Leyva