DATE. OF OUT IS information: / PUBLICATIONcurrent most THIS For http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog I TMLE -MAPS OFP. THE RIVERI. AND ITS RECRkATINALLI L RESOURCESI; U HITICAL' AND WILDLIFE INFeRMMIONI- STAI'E f'ARKS GUIDE SUGESTED'.I. II EXCURSI6)NI. LI U I £ATING SAFETY TIPS 30 WILLAMETIE RIVER MAP PAGE GUIDE Governor's S CA P PG 0 S E Message ri 1 t 27 Oregon is known to people worldwide for its beauty, natural resources and PORTLAND recreational opportunities. The Willamette River, flowing from MILWAUKEE one of the world's most beautiful LAKE 25 OSWEC mountain ranges and through GLADSTONE one of its richest valleys, is a WEST LINN EREGON CITY DATE. resource befitting this image. NEWBERG One can find everything along its shores from a graceful great 23 bluel:::r:: heron to aa';.':- swooping bald-I- eagle. OF Its w lers are h Cime to salmon, sturgeon, native cutthroat trout and many other species. It supports varied recreational Contents opportunij:ji: tiesfrom boating and water- 22 skiing toL' fishingii1Lc and nature viewing. OUTIntroduction 1 Beyond its natural beauty, the SALEM Willarnette is steeped in the history IS History of the Willamette 2-3 of OregC) n territor. Pi neers by the Plant and Animal Life 4-5 thousands in the mid-1800s ended 21 their long journeys on the Oregon Willamette-area wildlife refuges Trail at Oregon City. For them, the Boating on the Willamette 6-7 Willamette meant new hope River characteristics and hazards and opportunity. 19 ALBANY Today;cca' tLi this living SftLiaLLiOImuseum of information:Navigation aids our naturalLa:x1 a:ttand culturalJc2:J history CORVALLI is a vearound recreati nal Excursions and Outings 8-11 resource for::J all Oregonians'i River mileage and float times as wellwJ as for our visitors. 18 Suggested fishing areas This Willamette River Recreation Guide is your Guide to Oregon State Parks passport to useLf and enjoy current Festivals and events this great river.fj'rr WeIPUBLICATION hope River Guide and- Maps 12-30 ou accept- -r: the;i. invitation.'ti,r 17 Middle and Coast Forks 12-15 Springfield to Albany 16-19 most Albany to St. Paul/Newberg 20-23 /hnA.jtzhaber THIS 15 May 1, 1995 EUGENE 14 4Newberg to Portland 24-27 For El L-Multnomah- - I.. Channel- 28-30 Keeping Our River Clean:Ii- 31 http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog13 Resources 32 COTTAGE GROVE The WiHamette River begins its neariy 300-mile journey in the high Cascades southeast of Eugene. Winding through forest farmland and city, it travels northward the length of the Willamette Valley before joining the Columbia River at Portland. Along the way, it changes from a rushing mountain Public uses and stream into a substantial river more than a quarter-mile across. recreational opportunities The Willamette is a vital, multi- ABOUT THIS GUIDE and navigational hazards. Although considerably A great many pastimes purpose waterxvav that touches tamed from the way explorers found it 200 years can be enjoyed on the This guide is an the lives of millions of people. It ago, the Willamette changes with each season and, invitation for people Willamette. These to return to the provides ports for commercial in the lower sections, with the daily tides. NeverDATE.include boating, riverto use it and barges and oceangoing ships, disregard its power camping, picnicking, enjoy it. Hiking irrigation for crops sold world- or dismiss its hazards. swimming, hiking, along its banks or wide, an abundant fishery, and In some areas, large bicycling, wildlife cruising its waters commercialOF barges and allows one an recreational opportunities. viewing, fishing and opportunity to step Nearly 70 percent of oceangoing vessels hunting. There are back into Oregon's Oregonians live within 20 miles present a hazard; in eight state parks, three history to witness of the Willamette River. As impor- others, the sheer public ferries, and the natural beauty tant as it is to us, the Willamette number and variety more than 170 Oregon and bountiful envi- State Wiliamette River ronment that was is relatively unknown to many of OUTof activities engaged Greenway parcels, city and isOregon. those who live near it. Although in by boaters and other the river passes thiough nine IS river users is a danger-. and county parks, boat counties and 19 cities, miles of its channels, sloughs The guide also con- ramps, end Division of and backwaters cannot be seen from roads or tains information State Lands parcels along the river and its towns. Many communities, no longer economically about river history, major tributaries. The dependent on it, have turned their backs on the riv- plants, fish and wild- life, environmental issues, boating safety, recrea- river provides habitat er. The Willamette is often overlookedso familiar for hundreds of types tional activities and what to do in emergencies. a part of our landscape that it sometimes fades into ot plants, and many The listinformation: ol resources on page 32 provides more the background. species of birds, fish information. When planning an outing, check the and animals. appropriate river section in the guide. Outings This guide is designed to make it easy to visit and and excursions are suggested in each A vast river ;ystem experience the river whether by boal, bicycle, motor section and on pages 8-1 1. The Willamette River vehicle or on foot. The guide divides the river into The Coast and Middle forks drains 12000 square five sections, beginning on page 12. For each sec- are public to the "ordinary miles of land at an average rate of Iow tion, important featui-es are described and map- high" waterline on the current that would fill 175 ped. These include state and local parks, state riverbank. On the PUBLICATION buildings the size of greenway and Division of State Lands main stem, unless property is specif- Portland's tallest parcels, boat ramps, marinas, wildlife ically shown on the maps or signed skyscraper every day areas and other points of interest. as public, it should he assumed that The maps show public roads it is private above the "ordinary low" that lead to greenway most parcels,THIS parks or other public access points. Each sectionFor also highlights possi- ble outings. Maps in this http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog guide show byECanoeing on major features, iicKenzie Riner channels, i/la rneue tributary sloughs, islands LEFT'. Skiing onthe 1/awe/fe Great blueheroit Historyf the Will amette Perhaps for as long as 10,000 years, the Willamette River basin has been the wellspring of life for the people who have lived along its shores and ridden its waters. It has been a major source of food, wate transportation and commerce in the bountiful heartland of western Oregon Brush burning the Willamette Valley. common- ye Americapractice was For Oregonians, lived near and along the Calapooia River. Other BEAUTIFUL WILLAMETE to burn the Wiliamette the "Beautiful Kalapuyans included the Tualatin, Santiam, /alieye.'ch tall at one From the Cascades' frozen gorges, Willamette" is Yamhill and Luckiamute bands. Chinookean people Leaping like a child at play, itproserrvesr the occupied the lower Willamette below the falls. The Winding, widening through the valley, more than just a /iiiamtte Valley Thi DATE. Bright WilJamette glides away; lovely river. It is Clackamas vere members of the Chinook family created and maintain Onward evel; a key part of our group. The native bands in the valley subsisted ad the oak and gri3- Lovely river, colorful history, mostly on nuts, berries and roots, although they 'an'1 cavanna that Softly calling to the sea. a working river also wereOF good huntersusing the snare and trap tavored elk and deer .s Time, that scars us, of vita] econom- as effectively as the bow and arrow. \N,li3s camas, tarweed Maims and mars us, A smallpox epidemic in 1782-83, followed by and scorn habitat- Leaves no track or trench on thee. ic importance, a malaria epidemic from 1830-33, wiped out 80 in-,,-rrcrtant foods for -SAMUEL L. SIMPSON, 1868 and a place to percent of the native people. By 1856, surviving thenativE popuiation fish, boat, recreate and relaxto enjoy the many virtues OUTmembers of the various bands were resettled The- cL.'ared Ian Oregon has to offer. under treaty onto the Grand Ronde reservation IeIpeu n thCgathen no of sds, roots an The Willamette is one of the few majorIS rivers in near Valley Junction. L'uILs, as well as creat- the U.S. that flow primarily north. So narrow and shallow in places that pioneers felled trees for ing exposed areas +or The Willamette River was first noted by English bridges, it widens to more than2,000feet across easier bunting. Ihe navigator Lt. William R. Broughton, a member of bruslh'irning also in Portland. Originally, the river meandered in a Capt. George Vancouver's expedition, in 1792. created........major areas wide swath across the valley floon changing chan- Explorers Lewis and Clark, on behalf of the United of prairie that nels frequently to form new islands and oxbows. States, ventured up it for about seven miles in 1806. attracteduro Today, the Willamette is rather tameinformation: by comparison. - The first Euro-Americans were the fur trappers, Am°, an settler Wing dams, revetments, dredging and flood control mostly working for the Hudson's Bay Company at be5.'ause the land projects have altered the flow patterns to create a Ft. Vancouver, followed by the missionaries, who wasfready cleared. simpler, deeper channel. tried mightily to convert Native Americans to Early traders Christianity. Following them were the settlers, Thef:irstargevesseItc There is evidence of human presence in the mostly farmers, who crossed the Oregon Trail.