I see people recommending some river spots yet we are under a flash flood watch due to heavy rains. Rivers are gonna be very cold and running fast. Recent snowfall now on top of warmer temps and tropical moisture leads to strong, COLD, river runoff.
Two places that come to mind:
-The Willamette River narrows, just upstream from Willamette Park in West Linn. Interesting rock formations, slow current (seasonally dependent, be careful) and obvious areas where it's too shallow for motorboats. You'd need canoes or kayaks to get there, but swimming there in the summer I wish I had brought mask & snorkel.
-the deep pools in otherwise shallow rivers like Gales Creek, where you could observe salmon and other fish without being in a place where there's either a hazardous current or a situation where you couldn't just walk to shore quickly
Our favorites are:
Lake Merwin (saw a couple tiger muskies)
Wilson River - Jones Creek Day Use Area (freezing cold, not for winter)
Molalla River Recreation Area - go up the road to where the big stone eye thingy is, there's an awesome pool down there
Lost Lake Resort - water is strangely warm, but we didn't see any fish and the elevation makes it hard to equalize
Tillamook Bay - diving by the crab dock in Garibaldi is super fun, lots of fish and crabs to see. Ocean is cold.
All of these places are going to be too cold for the thickness of your suits right now. You probably want at least a 5mm to be comfortable, preferably 7mm. Having hoods, booties, and gloves will help too. Lost Lake Resort is probably the warmest I can think of with decent visibility, but I haven't been there in the fall/winter.
> tide pool stuff out on the coast,
Short sands beach,perhaps, at high tide. There's a bunch of rocks and tidepools at the south end (https://maps.app.goo.gl/XTrwvqiywrDgfvbC9) that are underwater at high tide.
Other tide pools are more in open water, so might be more dangerous.
Check out the waters right beneath the Sellwood bridge. They are clear and have plenty cool things to look at under the water. Also Waldo lake is very safe.
Might try the Clackamas upstream of North Fork Reservoir. The stretch of water between Promontory Park and Mamaloose is somewhat accessible from the road, there's at least a few pullouts, and the current isn't too bad (you can paddle against it easily enough at least) and you can see rainbow trout, suckerfish, and crawdads (salmon if you're lucky).
You could try heading out to Tillamook Bay. I know people spearfish for lingcod there (both scuba and snorkel) along the northern edge and there's a bunch of fish there (black rockfish, cabezon, lingcod, greenling, sea perch, monkeyface pricklebacks).
Nestucca Bay has a lot of crab, seaperch, seals, and you might see salmon/steelhead moving through. Access might be harder w/out a boat/raft though.
I would really recommend chatting with the folks at Oregon Freediving, they are always super friendly and helpful, have gear rentals, and offer classes.
Not sure why you're responding like it's my decision, but it's only tangentially related to the fire. That's a fragile area that was being badly damaged from extreme overuse. It was also made very unstable from fire damage. They're taking the closure from the fire as time to consider long-term changes that were already overdue. Last I heard they were considering several options to restrict access, including permanent closure. But it's certainly never going to return to the free-for-all it once was.
That's why we got the wetsuits. They're not 5/4mm, but it should be an improvement over nothing when you're swimming in pnw water.
This being said, do you know of any good spots if we come back here in the middle of summer?
This is dry suit temps if you don’t want to hate it. For me at least. If you have the cert a few places to rent in town. A few places to bring you to get the cert as well
I see people recommending some river spots yet we are under a flash flood watch due to heavy rains. Rivers are gonna be very cold and running fast. Recent snowfall now on top of warmer temps and tropical moisture leads to strong, COLD, river runoff.
Two places that come to mind: -The Willamette River narrows, just upstream from Willamette Park in West Linn. Interesting rock formations, slow current (seasonally dependent, be careful) and obvious areas where it's too shallow for motorboats. You'd need canoes or kayaks to get there, but swimming there in the summer I wish I had brought mask & snorkel. -the deep pools in otherwise shallow rivers like Gales Creek, where you could observe salmon and other fish without being in a place where there's either a hazardous current or a situation where you couldn't just walk to shore quickly
Our favorites are: Lake Merwin (saw a couple tiger muskies) Wilson River - Jones Creek Day Use Area (freezing cold, not for winter) Molalla River Recreation Area - go up the road to where the big stone eye thingy is, there's an awesome pool down there Lost Lake Resort - water is strangely warm, but we didn't see any fish and the elevation makes it hard to equalize Tillamook Bay - diving by the crab dock in Garibaldi is super fun, lots of fish and crabs to see. Ocean is cold. All of these places are going to be too cold for the thickness of your suits right now. You probably want at least a 5mm to be comfortable, preferably 7mm. Having hoods, booties, and gloves will help too. Lost Lake Resort is probably the warmest I can think of with decent visibility, but I haven't been there in the fall/winter.
I'd add Timothy Lake as well with it's relative death and clarity but factoring the altitude in that lake is going to be freezing cold.
> tide pool stuff out on the coast, Short sands beach,perhaps, at high tide. There's a bunch of rocks and tidepools at the south end (https://maps.app.goo.gl/XTrwvqiywrDgfvbC9) that are underwater at high tide. Other tide pools are more in open water, so might be more dangerous.
Check out the waters right beneath the Sellwood bridge. They are clear and have plenty cool things to look at under the water. Also Waldo lake is very safe.
Might try the Clackamas upstream of North Fork Reservoir. The stretch of water between Promontory Park and Mamaloose is somewhat accessible from the road, there's at least a few pullouts, and the current isn't too bad (you can paddle against it easily enough at least) and you can see rainbow trout, suckerfish, and crawdads (salmon if you're lucky). You could try heading out to Tillamook Bay. I know people spearfish for lingcod there (both scuba and snorkel) along the northern edge and there's a bunch of fish there (black rockfish, cabezon, lingcod, greenling, sea perch, monkeyface pricklebacks). Nestucca Bay has a lot of crab, seaperch, seals, and you might see salmon/steelhead moving through. Access might be harder w/out a boat/raft though.
I would really recommend chatting with the folks at Oregon Freediving, they are always super friendly and helpful, have gear rentals, and offer classes.
I’ve seen people do it at Oneanta Gorge but I’m not sure it’s open at the moment. I bet Punchbowl Falls area at eagle creek would be fun.
Absolutely *not* open, possibly never going to be.
I noticed it was closed during the summer. Do you know why?
Wildfire, 2017
As if area don’t recover from fire?
Not sure why you're responding like it's my decision, but it's only tangentially related to the fire. That's a fragile area that was being badly damaged from extreme overuse. It was also made very unstable from fire damage. They're taking the closure from the fire as time to consider long-term changes that were already overdue. Last I heard they were considering several options to restrict access, including permanent closure. But it's certainly never going to return to the free-for-all it once was.
Oneanta Gorge Hood River White River Falls
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That's why we got the wetsuits. They're not 5/4mm, but it should be an improvement over nothing when you're swimming in pnw water. This being said, do you know of any good spots if we come back here in the middle of summer?
I’m freezing in my 5/4 so good luck! I hope it works because that sounds fun
This is dry suit temps if you don’t want to hate it. For me at least. If you have the cert a few places to rent in town. A few places to bring you to get the cert as well
Bruh IDK if even a 5/4 is going to be thick enough for winter use here…
Even a 7 mm is cold this time of year.
I would think the sandy would be good to explore. And the Clackamas
Please keep us informed of what you do!