Hey, does anyone know of a good link that shows various (hopefully all) boat access points along this river? I just have a mid-size kayak so could actually drag it through the weeds if it came to that. Thanks!
tualatinriverkeepers.org here is a link to the river map http://tualatinriverkeepers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/paddler_map_07.pdf
For a slow spot it is nice to put in at the Sherwood park. There is a single lane narrow boat ramp. I have not seen more than a few people in there at a time and they all had kayaks as well.
it was called tualtin sherwood park...at least it was last I knew. It is in Sherwood http://www.fws.gov/tualatinriver/aboutus.html
A buddy and I parked in Sherwood and skidded our kayaks, with ropes, down a steep bank to launch under a bridge. It was a 2-hour paddle downstream to another truck staged at the boat ramp in Cook Park (a couple blocks from Tigard HS). I'm dying to try the same trip in winter once the current doubles. Guessing maybe an hour if I lean into it. Has anyone here paddled that stretch during the NW monsoons? I'll probably actually wear my life jacket if I see swift eddies, drifting snags, etc. Speaking of Cook Park, I see signs there warning that gates are locked at dusk - which isn't very late in the fall/winter. I've often wondered if they do just that, trapping vehicles (and kayaks) all night. I don't want to paddle back to the ramp late and become the guinnea pig for that one.
I paddled from the Schamburg Bridge to the 99W bridge (4.7 miles) a couple of weeks ago - about 2 hour paddle w/my kiddos (slow). At the Schamburg Bridge there is a small dirt parking area at SW Elsnor Rd in the northeast quadrant of the river/bridge (Roy Rodgers Rd), then a dirt trail through blackberries down to the river. It's kind of steep at the river, but not a huge deal. At the 99W bridge there is a concrete ramp right under the bridge that gives nice access to a small park and SW Hazelbrook Rd (where you can park) in the southeast quadrant of the river/99W bridge. This was a beautiful stretch that is bordered on the south predominately by the Tualatin River Refuge. There are not too many houses along this stretch and aside from one other pair of paddlers we had the river to ourselves.
Heraclitus never saw the Tualatin river. If he had, he would have said, "You could not step twice into the same river... unless it's the Tualatin. You can step in it all day long"
There is a boat ramp, with no dock, at Rood Bridge Park in Hillsboro. River is kind of narrow and filled with sweepers, dead heads, and stumps downstream for a looooong ways - but I've seen some ballsy power boaters in that stretch (guys running crawfish traps). One of these days I keep intending to do a day long float trip between Rood Bridge and Tualatin City Park (another one with a boat ramp but no dock) If you're kayaking - I'd float all the way to Brown's Ferry Park in Tualatin off Nyberg Rd - it's got a good dock and there's kayak rentals there during the summer. Fishing ain't bad in that stretch either.
