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  • Attractions
    • Avalon Theatre & Wunderland arcadeView All Attractions
    • Museums
    • Parks & Gardens
    • Family Friendly
    • Shopping
    • On a Budget
    • EVEN MORE THINGS TO DO
  • Culture
    • people sitting at tables eating foodView All Culture
    • Arts
    • Beer
    • Biking
    • Cannabis
    • Cultural Communities
    • Craft Spirits
    • Food
    • Makers
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Outdoors
    • Sports
    • Weird
    • Wine
    • MORE CULTURE
  • Neighborhoods
    • aerial view of downtown area with buildings and roadways, bridges crossing a river to a smaller set of buildings that expand into the distanceView All Neighborhoods
    • Alberta Arts District
    • Belmont
    • Central Eastside
    • Division/Clinton
    • Downtown
    • Hawthorne
    • Lloyd
    • Mississippi
    • Northwest / Nob Hill
    • Old Town Chinatown
    • Pearl District
    • St. Johns
    • Sellwood-Moreland
    • Williams
    • ALL NEIGHBORHOODS
  • Region
    • RegionView All Region
    • Near the City
    • Columbia River Gorge
    • Mount Hood
    • Oregon Coast
    • Willamette Valley
    • ALL REGIONS
  • Plan
    • Light rail train car driving past people shopping at an outdoor marketView All Plan
    • Portland Maps
    • Where to Stay
    • Tours & Itineraries
    • Transportation
    • When to Visit
    • Accessible Portland
    • Portland Weather
    • COVID-19 FAQ
    • Safety in Portland
    • Plan a Meeting
  • Events
  • Search
Benjamin Tepler

Benjamin Tepler

Benjamin Tepler is Portland Monthly magazine's associate editor. Read More

families gathered at Willamette River beach families gathered at Willamette River beach
i
Portlanders can cool off on a Willamette River beach in the summer.
Culture / Outdoors / Water Activities

Make a Splash in the Willamette River

Portland's Willamette River splits the city but unites fun-seekers.

Updated Aug. 31, 2022 2 min read
Benjamin Tepler

Benjamin Tepler

Benjamin Tepler is Portland Monthly magazine's associate editor. Read More

When you ask outdoorsy Portland locals where they’re headed on a summer day, chances are good they’ll answer, “The Willamette” (pronounced “will-AM-it”). The river bisects the city into east and west sides and is a virtual aquatic playground: Kayakers glide toward pockets of wildlife, fishers cast for migrating Chinook salmon and swimmers splash near the banks.

“I see beaver, otter, even deer swimming across. It’s cleaner than people can imagine.”

Suzi Cloutier

It wasn’t always so. “We had some pretty low points near the end of the 20th century,” says Suzi Cloutier, the water quality program coordinator at Willamette Riverkeeper, a nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the river’s health.

But cleanup efforts and the city’s “Big Pipe,” a $1.4 billion project completed in 2011 that diverts runoff, have paid big dividends. “I see beaver, otter, even deer swimming across,” says Cloutier. “It’s cleaner than people can imagine.”

three people mid-jump into a river
Several businesses in Portland’s Central Eastside rent equipment (like life jackets) for swimming and playing safely in the Willamette River.
Credit: Aaron Lee

Swimming in the Willamette

When summertime heats up in Portland, cooling off is as easy as heading to one of the city’s many riverfront beaches or docks for a refreshing dip — many of which were built by Human Access Project, a local nonprofit creating beaches, cleaning up shorelines and paving pathways to the river.

Anyone is welcome to enjoy Portland’s beaches and docks, including:

  • Poet’s Beach  
  • Audrey McCall Beach
  • Tom McCall Bowl Beach (located at Waterfront Park)
  • Docks along the Eastbank Esplanade

(Make sure to check out the Human Access Project’s swimming safety guidelines before making a splash in the Willamette River).

Boat Tours on the Willamette

For an abridged tour, travel the river at breakneck speeds with Willamette Jetboat Excursions, whose 1,000-horsepower vessels perform figure eights from OMSI to Willamette Falls, soaking passengers along the way. If you’d like to go at a more leisurely pace, pack a picnic basket and be the pilot of your own private boat tour with a rented electric Duffy boat from Portland Electric Boat Company (no experience necessary!). Discover more Portland boat tours.

Attractions, Outdoors, Summer

Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Hugging the Willamette River in downtown Portland, this once bustling highway now offers a strollable, bikeable and dog-walkable public park with historical and cultural monuments, and kid-friendly fun.

Read More

Splashing Around Town

When the temps heat up, here is how Portlanders cool down.

Get in the Water
a wooden dock in a river with swimmers standing, sitting, or climbing out of the water, looks toward a city center in the fading light

Swimming Holes Near Portland

Stay cool all summer long at these serene swimming spots, surrounded by the stunning natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest — and all less than an hour away from Portland.

One person in a life jacket pilots a stand-up paddleboard in a river, with another person in the river looking on.

Where to Stand-Up Paddleboard Around Portland

Find out where to stand-up paddleboard in Portland, as well as where to find SUP lessons, paddleboard rentals, guided lake tours and SUP yoga classes.

kids splash in the fountain at peninsula park

Portland’s Public Fountains

Cool off with free fun at these kid-friendly fountains in Portland.

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