Hood River Fruit Loop with Mount Hood
— — a slow road through the bloom and the snow above it.
Not only on a wall.
“A 35-mile circuit through the Hood River Valley, marked since 1992, drawing visitors through cherry and pear blocks, lavender fields, alpaca farms, and small wineries. Mount Hood holds the southern horizon the whole way around. Spring brings white blossom; September the pear harvest; October the apples and the first snow on the peak. Most farm stands open from April through October.
Hood River Fruit Loop with Mount Hood, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Fruit Loop is a county-marked driving route that runs about 35 miles through the Hood River Valley, looping between Highway 35 and the back roads above Odell and Parkdale. The valley floor climbs from roughly 500 feet at the Columbia River to over 1,500 feet near Parkdale, with Mount Hood rising to 11,249 feet just beyond. About 30 farm stands, wineries, and cideries belong to the Fruit Loop association, most open from April through late October.
Every month of the growing season offers something different on the loop. April brings pear and cherry bloom; May the lavender starts; cherries ripen in late June; peaches and Bartlett pears come in August; Anjou pears and apples hold through September into late October. Most stands close by early November. Snow on Mount Hood is reliable from October through July, and the cone is visible from almost every south-facing stop on the route.
The loop is best driven counter-clockwise, starting from Exit 64 off Interstate 84 in the town of Hood River. Most farm stands open at 10 a.m. and close by 5 or 6 p.m. through summer and fall. Panorama Point County Park, two miles south of town on Eastside Road, holds the cleanest view of Mount Hood across the orchards. Weekend traffic in October moves slowly with leaf-peepers; midweek mornings are quietest. No fees for the route itself.