The Tualatin Hills Nature Park is open dawn to dusk. Park maps are available at www.thrpd.org or at the Interpretive Center. Dogs are not allowed; bikers are restricted to paved trails.

When I moved from western Montana to Beaverton in February 2009, there was one thing I knew I was going to miss: my Rattlesnake. Well, it’s everyone’s Rattlesnake. But the Rattlesnake Wilderness just 10 minutes from downtown Missoula was my favorite place to escape into the wild for cross-country runs second to none in the area.

Nine months later I still hadn’t found a Rattlesnake. But I have found a jewel hidden away in the middle of Beaverton where I can get my oxygen and nature fix while pumping along wooded trails: the Tualatin Hills Nature Park.

At slightly more than 220 acres, the park has 1.5 miles of paved trails. Most interesting to me, however, are the four miles of secondary dirt and bark trails that wind through the park’s interior across a diverse habitat of oak, pine, marsh and meadow. I was thrilled early one Sunday morning last spring to have a four-point buck still in the velvet leap across the path then turn its gaze on me as I ran past.

There is plenty of other wildlife, including numerous birds, rabbits and chipmunks that whisk across the trail or flicker in the moss-draped trees overhead. Occasionally I encounter another runner or a couple taking a stroll, but the silence is a welcome sanctuary from the hum of humanity outside the park.

I recently introduced my 13-year-old daughter to the park. As we pounded along dense, tree-lined trails with names like Old Wagon and Coyote, Rachael turned to me, her eyes shining. “It’s like running through Middle Earth,” she said, grinning from ear to ear, before sprinting on ahead.

So maybe I lost my Rattlesnake. But it appears I found the Shire. And the miles keep rolling past.