Explore the Beautiful Location that Inspired the Wilds
Forged Series: Skyline Gardens & Path near West Portlandia, Cascade Zone, UPT
To learn more about the FORGED series, visit the Table of Contents.
Skyline Gardens & Path
The opening scene of Shattered, book one in the Forged Series, introduces our protagonist, Contessa Wright, and her family as they leave the swimming hole near their home at Fox Ridge, today’s Skyline Boulevard area of the West Hills in Northwest Portland. They walk through the former Skyline Memorial Gardens, a cemetery that the locals of Tessa’s time find both beautiful and creepy.
Current Overhead View of Area
In 2024
Portland’s Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks in the nation, is located in the West Hills of Northwest Portland, Oregon. Forest roads, fire lanes, and groomed trails crisscross the seven-mile stretch of the eastern slope of the Tualatin Mountains. The over 5,200 acres of green space offers hiking enthusiasts more than 80 miles of varying terrain to explore.
Approximately 15,000 people live in the residential neighborhoods that dot the west side of the ridge. Of the several businesses along Thompson Road and Skyline Boulevard, the 55-acre Skyline Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home takes up a long stretch of the road. The terraced cemetery offers a spectacular view of the Tualatin Valley, home to another 300,000 people. Across the valley, the Coast Range can be seen rising in the distance.
In 2134
The Great Changes and Perses Pandemic from the mid-twenty-first century altered the landscape and reduced the population around the world. Survivors in the Portland metro area moved to higher ground in the West Hills to avoid the swampy valley floor. As unsafe structures were abandoned, Mother Nature reclaimed the scarred landscape. The area around what was Washington Park (near the Oregon Zoo) became West Portlandia. Home to approximately 5,000 residents, the settlement is the Cascade Zone’s second-largest urban center after East Portlandia, the zone’s capital.
The area that was once the Skyline Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home is now known simply as Skyline Gardens because of its relative openness and lack of tree canopy. Residents of West Portlandia flock to the space on sunny days for picnics, as the former parking lots are now grassy fields.
We skirted the edge of the terraced hillside, respectful of the rows of primitive graves that hid among the creeping blackberries and thick grass. The old cemetery seemed more hallowed in the twilight than in the brightness of day.
Even Sis seemed affected by the place and slowed down until she was walking beside me. “This place creeps me out,” she said in an uncharacteristically small voice.
I put an arm around her and drew her closer. “Look at all these families–together for eternity.” I pointed to the crumbling wall that delineated a family plot with several tombstones hidden in the unmanicured space.
“Will we always be together?”
“Of course,” I said and squeezed her arm.
We walked in silence past the dilapidated structure of the funeral home. On our other side, several columns reached skyward like an ancient Greek temple poking above the brambles. The setting sun's rays made the deteriorating pillars stand out against the greenery.
Excerpt from Shattered, book one of the FORGED Series, coming in 2025 from Provender Press
The Wrights' trek home takes them along Skyline Path. Once a major roadway before the Great Changes, few cars take the wide track now. With its broken pavement and encroaching vegetation, Skyline Path connects West Portlandia to the Comms towers area near Fox Ridge, where the Wrights live.
Sis leapfrogged from mound to mound, calling back to me, “Watch out! Hot lava!”1 She giggled and sprang to another grassy clump, avoiding the packed dirt and crumbling asphalt.
I didn’t have the energy to play the game—not after the climb from the swimming hole—so I let Sis pull ahead as I trudged along the path. Though my footfalls were heavy, the brush on either side and the tree canopy that almost met overhead made the journey beneath the living tunnel peaceful. The sun had lowered behind the Cascade range, so the path was shrouded in dusky shadows. Bats darted overhead, clearing the air of mosquitoes. I silently thanked them for their efforts.2
I glanced back to my parents, who trailed a few paces behind me. Their silhouette was like a painting of lovers walking hand in hand down the middle of the old road. Serene. Heart-warming. Comforting.
Excerpt from Shattered, book one of the FORGED Series, coming in 2025 from Provender Press
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Location Profile
For those of you who like side-by-side comparisons, I give you this handy chart.
Location Inspiration and Role
I’ve always found structures reclaimed by nature as beautiful. Moss, vines, and other vegetation cover human construction until their hard lines are indiscernible. Their original uses are hidden or softened until they become an afterthought, a distant memory.
When I imagined the Wilds, stories from my parents and grandparents—stories of walking “uphill both ways,” more green space, fewer vehicles, and a slower daily rhythm—were a basis for how I envisioned families and communities interacting. The severe decrease in population means that humans struggle to keep their hold on what they no longer use regularly. In another part of book one, Tessa remembers the fallen wind turbines that look like a “mystical sculpture garden” of fanciful topiary.
Skyline Path remains a major thoroughfare used by pedestrians and the era’s standard modes of transportation—mostly small electronic individual transports or occasional biodiesel vehicles used for transporting goods. The Wright family walks to most places and sticks close to their small community. Traveling through the old cemetery, they respect the souls underground yet cherish the area for its new role. The locals in Tessa’s time still find the open space idyllic and a place for gathering, though more for socializing and play than for reflecting and remembrance.
What I’m reading
Here are some other dystopian and Sci-Fi fiction pieces available on Substack that you might enjoy. Plus, some thought-provoking pieces.
Ship of Fools - Larry Hogue’s serial fiction keeps getting better and better! Be sure also to check out his character profiles, like this one about the rocket tycoon billionaire.
Illegal - Just when I think I know what to expect from Claudia Befu, she spins out another tale that dives us deeper into her world of There is Hope. Soon, she will be starting a new serial. Subscribe to her publication to be in the know!
Brood - This short story fiction from Scoot is a gripping tale (don’t read it before bed…unless you like creepy dreams). And be sure to dig deeper into the back catalog for more outstanding Sci-Fi reads.
Poems by Gloria Horton-Young - Several of my recent favorites are Joseph R. Biden, Unvarnished Defiance, and this masterful microdosing poem using multiple prompts from Miguel S. as inspiration.
Discarded - Jamal Robinson provides inspiration for writers to stay the course, as highlighted by Stephen King’s journey. King’s quote: “Creativity can flourish in less than ideal places. It just needs a little time and attention to do so.“ And Jamal’s found message: “Creativity needs attention.” So true!
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Questions
Would you picnic in the grassed-over parking lot of a cemetery? Where is your favorite picnic spot?
The season is about to turn in the PacNW. What are you looking forward to most? (Please don’t say Pumpkin Spice…)
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My kids loved to play “hot lava”—at home, we would toss the throw pillows and couch cushions around, and they would hop from one side to the other without touching the carpet. Once they were old enough to attend elementary school, the game morphed, and we were only “allowed” to walk on certain parts of the sidewalk that led up to their school building.
Mosquitos LOVE me. My hubby often jokes that he doesn’t need any bug spray… he only needs to be beside me, and all the bugs will ignore him in favor of my enticing blood. Also, most nights, we have 3-5 bats swooping the skies over our backyard. We can sit on our deck in the early evening and watch the graceful creatures dart back and forth, collecting all the tasty morsels and clearing the air of the nasty bugs. (And I silently thank them each time I watch, just as Tessa does.)
I try to stick to walkways and car paths in cemetery for the same reason! Thanks for the recommendation—I’ll check it out!
It is such an inspiring area, where man meets wilderness.