North Fork Clackamas River at North Fork Reservoir Boat Launch - map

Nearest town is Estacada, OR

The Clackamas River runs from its headwaters in the Cascade Mountains to the Willamette River.

The Clackamas River, convenient to Portland, boasts breathtaking mountain views, colorful native wildflowers and wildlife, as well as access for fishing, boating and hiking. This river is home to the last significant run of wild late-winter coho salmon in the Columbia Basin, which generally spawn on the main stem of the Clackamas above the North Fork Reservoir. The watershed also has one of only two remaining runs of spring chinook in the Willamette basin and supports a significant population of winter steelhead, cutthroat trout and native lamprey.

Help keep this river clean and healthy by adopting today! You can make a difference for this watershed and all who depend upon it.

About this State Scenic Waterway

The Clackamas River is a designated State Scenic Waterway between Ollalie Lake Scenic Area and North Fork Reservoir (49 miles). 14 miles of the North Fork Clackamas and another 4 miles of the South Fork are also designated State Scenic Waterways.

Oregon's diversity of river systems contributes richly to our quality of life. Oregonians decided to protect special waterways in 1970 when they voted two-to-one to establish the Oregon Scenic Waterways Program. The program seeks to balance protection and use through cooperation between federal, state, and local agencies as well as individual property owners and those who recreate along a waterway.  The program goals include:

• Protect the free-flowing character of designated rivers;
• Protect and enhance scenic and natural values, recreation, and fish and wildlife
• Protect private property rights; 
• Encourage other agencies to act consistently with the goals of scenic waterways

This river stretch was nominated by Laurel Hillmann, State Scenic Waterways Program, 503-986-0700