Mount Hood from Panorama Point Hood River
— — the mountain at the end of the apple rows.
Not only on a wall.
“A small county park on a low rise above the Hood River Valley, with a view that lines up the pear and apple orchards with Mount Hood about thirty miles to the south. In April the foreground turns white with blossom; in October it turns red and gold. The mountain sits behind it all, snow on the north face, taking the morning light first.
Mount Hood from Panorama Point Hood River, 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.
Panorama Point is a small Hood River County park on a low hill about two miles south of the city of Hood River, at the north end of the Hood River Valley. The site looks south down a corridor of orchards toward Mount Hood, 11,249 feet, roughly thirty miles distant. The valley produces pears, apples, and cherries; Hood River County is the largest pear-growing county in the Pacific Northwest. The park has picnic tables, restrooms, and no admission fee, and parking holds about a dozen cars.
The view changes with the orchards. Pear and apple blossom peaks in mid- to late April, when the foreground goes white. Cherries ripen in early July. The Fruit Loop, a 35-mile drive linking the valley's farm stands and cideries, runs heaviest from late August through October, when the leaves turn and the mountain begins to gather fresh snow. Winter clears the trees and isolates Hood against bare ground, but cold haze in the lower valley can mute the contrast on still mornings.
The park is reached from Eastside Road or Old Dalles Drive, both signed from downtown Hood River. There is no fee, no gate, and parking for roughly a dozen cars. Best light falls within an hour of sunrise, when the north face of Hood catches the warm side and the orchards below stay in soft shadow. The Columbia River Gorge is two miles north; Mount Hood Meadows ski area sits about an hour south on OR-35.