Oregon Rotarians are bringing Spain’s famous Camino experience to the Northwest, Portland, USA.
Published: February 10, 2026
A Peace Pole in Phoenix’s Blue Heron Park was installed by the Bear Creek Valley Rotary Club with translations in English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Amharic.
stands near a Peace Pole.
People walking in Oregon are seeing messages of peace. More than 1,000 Peace Poles with “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in different languages are already standing in the state’s parks, greenways and other public places.
***More Peace Poles are being installed this year by members of Oregon’s Rotary Clubs along a new route launching next year called the Oregon Peace Trail.
Inspired by Spain’s famous Camino de Santiago, the Oregon Peace Trail is designed for people to be in nature, inviting relaxed conversations, listening, and stretches of quiet contemplation.
The first 308 miles of the Peace Trail will connect the end of the Oregon Trail in Oregon City south to the World Peace Flame in Ashland.
“The Peace Trail, like the Camino de Santiago, is a walking meditation for deep reflection,” said artist and author Irene Kai, who established the continually lit World Peace Flame on Southern Oregon University’s Ashland campus.
Local Rotary clubs across the state will manage the Oregon Peace Trail, which will use existing paths. Day hikers and bikers can be on greenways and trails with firm surfaces and gentle grades that are wheelchair and stroller accessible.
were leading people in a training walk along the Bear Creek Greenway.
(Janet Eastman/Janet Eastman/The Oregonian/OregonLive)
There will also be quiet backroads for car and bus passengers, and people in kayaks, canoes, stand-up paddleboards and drift boats can float on the Willamette River Greenway and Water Trail.
Peace Pole wayfinding signs and a new app being developed will provide information on lodging, dining and area attractions, said Larry Strober of Lafayette, who came up with the idea of walks to empower peace building with fellow Rotarians Al Jubitz of Portland and David Wick of Ashland.
Like the network of Camino routes to northeast Spain’s Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, organizers envision the Oregon Peace Trail expanding, eventually incorporating paths on the coast, along the Columbia River Gorge and all corners of the state.
Strober, has been working on the Peace Trail idea since late 2024. He’s still refining the route for people of all ages to walk for peace, from a few steps to miles, while immersed in the beauty of Oregon.
Travelers will be able to collect a stamp in a trail passport from participating stops to commemorate their journey once the north-south route opens in spring 2027, said Larry Strober.
There is a lot of work to do, but Strober, who wears lapel pins that read “Making a Difference” and“Create Hope in the World,” and other volunteers are undaunted.
“The world right now is not a very friendly place,” said Strober, 83. “Individuals can make a difference.”
Janet Eastman
Real estate and Design reporter
The Oregonian
Portland, Oregon