Willamette River Float Trip
Alton Baker Park - Willamette River Access Point
See our Guide to Willamette River Access Points with interactive map.
A calm contrast to the constant movement of Oregon’s most vivacious city, the Willamette River snakes slowly through Eugene. Like a senior professor edging across a college campus as awestruck students step clear of wisdom and profundity, the Willamette dwarfs Eugene’s citizens in age, power, and beauty. Her nurturing water illuminates plants and animals with life, establishing an unbreakable dependency between man and his natural guardian, nature.
To be immersed in nature is the most intimate way to experience this unbreakable dependency, so get outdoors and camp in the forest, hike through the mountains, or like countless of Oregonians do each year, float down the Willamette.
The best way to access the river is to park near Franklin Avenue and Campus and walk upriver on the river path. Most people enter the Willamette a mile or two east of Ferry Street Bridge, and float down just past Alton Baker Park, exiting at the river path by Downtown Eugene.
On a blazing summer day, nothing beats a raft, a cool drink, and good company as you experience nature at its natural lazy pace. Like a mini-vacation minutes away from the office, the River courts a carefree existence. Explore the relationship between man and nature while conquering the pressures of life, letting them float down the river as you finish your day with a cleansed mind. The Willamette can be quite the cathartic experience!
Check out local sporting goods stores for rafts, kayaks, or inner-tubes, but call a few days in advance of floating because most stores sell out during hotter than average or holiday weekends. During the summer, the river has a few small rapids, but for the most part moves gently. The depth ranges from about 15ft to only knee high, so it’s important to pay attention to the conditions and always keep a level head. Only a fool with a death-wish floats a river during a rain storm, so stay off the river during nasty weather. Also, follow directions from all warning signs and city officials. Finally, the river belongs to everyone, including delicate plant and animal species, so its critical to keep an undisturbed environment. Don’t litter on the river and always clean up after yourself and others who might not be as considerate.
Eugene offers more natural experiences than anywhere in the country. These primitively beautiful moments tattoo Eugene as an environmentally conscious community because protecting a daily lifestyle is natural responsibility. When riding to work traveling north on Coburg Street I cross the Ferry Street Bridge. From here, it is impossible to neglect the beauty of the Willamette. Like cowering beneath a sky of redwoods, or watching the burning sun splash into the pacific ocean at a days end, the Willamette River demands the quiet respect that transcends the limits of human language.
Written by Zak Weinberg for DiscoverEugene.com
Photo by Dale Woodruff