Kayaking the Multnomah Channel is an excellent escape to picturesque island farms and the untamed West Hills.
After a beautiful drive amid fruitful farms lined with berries, pumpkins, and sheep, embark upon your kayak at the Sauvie Island Boat Ramp. We headed South toward the Sauvie Island Bridge - re-traversing the journey we took by car in the water parallel it.
Houseboats rim the bank, and it's fun to see the different styles of architecture and various ways people design their home to utilize the water. The dark West Hills loom up and around you and you'll paddle past Burlington Bottoms Wildlife Refuge on your right.
Our entire trip was very quiet and chill; we had most of the channel to ourselves and there was little to no current. Often the only sound was the bikers rolling past the bank over our heads - bikers love Sauvie Island Road, the flat, long road you'll take to get to the boat ramp and access the northern part of the island.
The 2.5 miles from the ramp to the bridge was perfect for us, but depending on your ambition, you could continue a little further South where the channel feeds into the Willamette River, or go North for a much longer journey, where it will connect with Scappoose Bay and, eventually, the Columbia River.
Of course, since much of Sauvie Island is wildlife refuge and farmland, this is another fantastic place to birdwatch!
Distance from Portland: 30 minutes / 15 miles
Difficulty: Easy
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