Clatskanie River’s Culvert to the Westport Slough

March 18, 2023

I’ve been wanting to further check this area for a long time. On a map it appears there is a route parallel to the Columbia River from Westport to the mouth of the Clatskanie River, almost. I’ve read feed back from other people who are curious too. There are two gaps labeled on this map.

On the left end is the entrance to Westport Slough where there is an excellent ADA kayak launch at Westport, Oregon. The blue marks the Columbia River, the red marks the Westport Slough and part of the Clatskanie River system inland up to the Quincy Mayger Road bridge. I documented a portage through the gap on the left. The bank entering the slough was steep but I was fortunate that it was a slide down and not a pull up through the brush with my heavy boat. I wrote it up here.

If doable, the second gap to the east offered the possibility of sheltered waters paralleling over seven miles of the Columbia. I found an entry regarding this gap in the excellent 2004 book by Keith G. Hay: The Lewis & Clark Columbia River Water Trail available here.

Regarding passage, Mr. Hay offered a paddle through the gap if the tide was low with the possibility of a portage if a person didn’t want the thrill of a culvert:

Today I planned to launch here and observe at what tides the culvert works. When I arrived, the tide was rising at +6.7′ feet and about to turn. I planned to paddle east around Anunde Island, then north around Point Adams onto a sheltered bit of the Columbia. 3.5 miles into trip I would portage back onto Westport Slough and down the steep bank where I would rejoin the main path of Westport Slough four miles into trip. The loop would total about seven miles. When I returned, the tide would have fallen to a bit over +2 feet to show another extreme of the culvert.

Off I drove to find out.

This must be the place. This sign credits the many who made this culvert possible and encourages research to find out more. A quick search revealed from NOAA Fisheries that they “Removed dirt plug between river and slough, replaced with arch culvert to allow fish access to 8 trubitaries (sic) and water flushing of Westport Slough. Should reduce sediment load in slough.”

Looking west, here is the slough from Westport. My original plan was to loop back here in four hours after heading in the other direction. In the nineteen years since the book was written the banks have grown thick with Himalayan Blackberry.

There was one short path in the area and it went east to the Clatskanie River. It offered no view of the culvert but pulling aside some blackberries elsewhere I was able to photograph it. There was a small current westward as the tide was turning at +6.9 feet (as measured in nearby Wauna).

Being March, the blackberries are bound to further fill in the launch path during the summer.

Off I went to get a water’s view of the culvert. The divider was a deal breaker to me.

A local stopped to chat. He lives nearby on the northeast shore and paddles with his grandkids. He recommended that I return before the tide dropped to three feet. He can see the culvert from his dock but has not been tempted to paddle through because the Westport Slough is shallow at this end. I gave him a copy of the Launch Guide book I publish as he was unfamiliar with some of my favorite trips nearby. We both agreed that nearby Jones Beach on the Columbia River can be rough and exposed. Then he told me to watch for a waterway a farmer dug in the 1930s. It would take me through the fields and rejoin the Clatskanie River upstream. After he verified I knew what time to be back to avoid becoming stuck in the mud, I paddled off to find this uncharted route.

This looks like a narrow entrance to something worth exploring.

I had found the passage. It is more shallow than the Clatskanie but plenty wide.

Later research gave it a name: The Kinnunen Gut. That called for a directory which explained that “a ‘gut’ is a relatively small coastal waterway connecting larger bodies of water or waterways.” It is shown as a dead end on my large NOAA chart #18523 and on GoogleMaps where it is labeled the Kinnunen Cut. Calling it a gut will raise an eyebrow.

It was not a dead end as I later paddled into the Clatskanie River on a falling +5.8 foot tide.

It was a mile and a quarter paddle downstream to the Columbia River overlapping a trip I have previously written about here. On that trip, I was trying to figure out a large mysterious concrete structure that looks so out of place on a satellite view. The local land owner I had met didn’t know about it, and it still remains a mystery.

On their return trip the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped further down down the Columbia River near Aldrich Point on March 24, 1806. On March 25, they camped here at Point Adams. What is also here is this interesting fishing industry relic.

Gear is still stored on the precarious looking upper story of this building above the many old docks.

I spotted an otter or a nutria ahead and paddled to where I though it might emerge.

The critter didn’t appear as maybe it was fishing.

Owners of the vehicles parked nearby were out fishing too.

And there were those who have always fished here.

A bulky camera that had been slowing me down all day got some use.

I circled around to admire this boatbuilder’s style, particularly the compound curves on the bow.

Soon I headed back up the Clatskanie and into the loop with the culvert.

Here is the culvert again at a falling +3.3 foot tide. Water was flowing towards me vigorously turning my bow away, not that I wanted to enter anyway. The entrance path is to the right, now with a soft mud beach.

Here’s a minute plus of video demonstrating the decision not to paddle through.

The book was right. From the blackberry launch it is only a mile to the Columbia, which is closer than the 2.75 mile paddle from the Beaver Boat Ramp in Clatskanie.

A Red-winged Blackbird entertained me as I loaded for home.

Did I find an island? According to the Inventory of the Julia Buttler Hansen Refuge, Appendix F, under Islands: …the “Kinnunen Cut is not being considered because it is a human-made cut, which was previously part of the Oregon Mainland.” Apparently digging a trench does not create a new island. Here is a map from Anyplace America that provides the best satellite view of today’s trip. The tracking information from my phone’s MapMy Tracks app.

I recently read an excellent book of kayaking (and towing his kayak with his bicycle) across the the United States titled The Misadventures of a Cross-America Kayaker released late in 2022. He described headwinds, fog, rough water and silent freighters sneaking up from behind as he paddled upriver on the Oregon side of Puget Island and around the nearby Wallace Island. He could have entered the Westport Slough and exited near the upstream end of Wallace as he was also using Mr. Hay’s book as a guide. I wrote to him regarding his thoughts of the Westport Slough and he replied…

“…In retrospect I wish I had taken it. I suspect I did not for the same reason you cited; uncertainty about the culvert (and running aground in the slough at low water). The Columbia River Water Trail Guide was a little light on the details and didn’t provide a photo. Oh, well, there is always next time.”

I have more trips planned in the area too.

As I left, I stopped at the first bend to take a parting picture westward of the Westport Slough. The +2.6 tide would leave a paddler feeling poorly in this gut.

Here are the numbers that don’t quite agree with each other from MapMy Walk and Garmin.

Let’s keep: 6 miles traveled in 2 hours 20 minutes (according to the Garmin that measured stopped time) with a maximum speed of 5.3 mph averaging 2.4 mph.

Clatskanie River: Beaver Ramp Downstream

There are 2 posts here, one above the other. This is meant to keep all the posts regarding the lower Clatskanie River together for easier reference later. 

March 18, 2023, I launched the Hobie kayak from where the Clatskanie River has a loop to the west to a culvert adjacent to the east end of the slough from Westport.

August 16, 2021, I launched the Hobie kayak from the Beaver Boat Ramp heading downstream turning east to a marina with a giant mystery and returning after a visit to the Columbia River.

March 18, 2023: Clatskanie River’s Culvert to the Westport Slough

I’ve been wanting to further check this area for a long time. On a map it appears there is a route parallel to the Columbia River from Westport to the mouth of the Clatskanie River, almost. I’ve read feed back from other people who are curious too. There are two gaps labeled on this map.

On the left end is the entrance to Westport Slough where there is an excellent ADA kayak launch at Westport, Oregon. The blue marks the Columbia River, the red marks the Westport Slough and part of the Clatskanie River system inland up to the Quincy Mayger Road bridge. I documented a portage through the gap on the left. The bank entering the slough was steep but I was fortunate that it was a slide down and not a pull up through the brush with my heavy boat. I wrote it up here.

If doable, the second gap to the east offered the possibility of sheltered waters paralleling over seven miles of the Columbia. I found an entry regarding this gap in the excellent 2004 book by Keith G. Hay: The Lewis & Clark Columbia River Water Trail available here.

Regarding passage, Mr. Hay offered a paddle through the gap if the tide was low with the possibility of a portage if a person didn’t want the thrill of a culvert:

Today I planned to launch here and observe at what tides the culvert works. When I arrived, the tide was rising at +6.7′ feet and about to turn. I planned to paddle east around Anunde Island, then north around Point Adams onto a sheltered bit of the Columbia. 3.5 miles into trip I would portage back onto Westport Slough and down the steep bank where I would rejoin the main path of Westport Slough four miles into trip. The loop would total about seven miles. When I returned, the tide would have fallen to a bit over +2 feet to show another extreme of the culvert.

Off I drove to find out.

This must be the place. This sign credits the many who made this culvert possible and encourages research to find out more. A quick search revealed from NOAA Fisheries that they “Removed dirt plug between river and slough, replaced with arch culvert to allow fish access to 8 trubitaries (sic) and water flushing of Westport Slough. Should reduce sediment load in slough.”

Looking west, here is the slough from Westport. My original plan was to loop back here in four hours after heading in the other direction. In the nineteen years since the book was written the banks have grown thick with Himalayan Blackberry.

There was one short path in the area and it went east to the Clatskanie River. It offered no view of the culvert but pulling aside some blackberries elsewhere I was able to photograph it. There was a small current westward as the tide was turning at +6.9 feet (as measured in nearby Wauna).

Being March, the blackberries are bound to further fill in the launch path during the summer.

Off I went to get a water’s view of the culvert. The divider was a deal breaker to me.

A local stopped to chat. He lives nearby on the northeast shore and paddles with his grandkids. He recommended that I return before the tide dropped to three feet. He can see the culvert from his dock but has not been tempted to paddle through because the Westport Slough is shallow at this end. I gave him a copy of the Launch Guide book I publish as he was unfamiliar with some of my favorite trips nearby. We both agreed that nearby Jones Beach on the Columbia River can be rough and exposed. Then he told me to watch for a waterway a farmer dug in the 1930s. It would take me through the fields and rejoin the Clatskanie River upstream. After he verified I knew what time to be back to avoid becoming stuck in the mud, I paddled off to find this uncharted route.

This looks like a narrow entrance to something worth exploring.

I had found the passage. It is more shallow than the Clatskanie but plenty wide.

Later research gave it a name: The Kinnunen Gut. That called for a directory which explained that “a ‘gut’ is a relatively small coastal waterway connecting larger bodies of water or waterways.” It is shown as a dead end on my large NOAA chart #18523 and on GoogleMaps where it is labeled the Kinnunen Cut. Calling it a gut will raise an eyebrow.

It was not a dead end as I later paddled into the Clatskanie River on a falling +5.8 foot tide.

It was a mile and a quarter paddle downstream to the Columbia River overlapping a trip I have previously written about here. On that trip, I was trying to figure out a large mysterious concrete structure that looks so out of place on a satellite view. The local land owner I had met didn’t know about it, and it still remains a mystery.

On their return trip the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped further down down the Columbia River near Aldrich Point on March 24, 1806. On March 25, they camped here at Point Adams. What is also here is this interesting fishing industry relic.

Gear is still stored on the precarious looking upper story of this building above the many old docks.

I spotted an otter or a nutria ahead and paddled to where I though it might emerge.

The critter didn’t appear as maybe it was fishing.

Owners of the vehicles parked nearby were out fishing too.

And there were those who have always fished here.

A bulky camera that had been slowing me down all day got some use.

I circled around to admire this boatbuilder’s style, particularly the compound curves on the bow.

Soon I headed back up the Clatskanie and into the loop with the culvert.

Here is the culvert again at a falling +3.5 foot tide. Water was flowing towards me vigorously turning my bow away, not that I wanted to enter anyway. The entrance path is to the right, now with a soft mud beach.

The book was right. From the blackberry launch it is only a mile to the Columbia, which is closer than the 2.75 mile paddle from the Beaver Boat Ramp in Clatskanie.

A Red-winged Blackbird entertained me as I loaded for home.

Did I find an island? According to the Inventory of the Julia Buttler Hansen Refuge, Appendix F, under Islands: …the “Kinnunen Cut is not being considered because it is a human-made cut, which was previously part of the Oregon Mainland.” Apparently digging a trench does not create a new island. Here is a map from Anyplace America that provides the best satellite view of today’s trip. The tracking information from my phone’s MapMy Tracks app.

I recently read an excellent book of kayaking (and towing his kayak with his bicycle) across the the United States titled The Misadventures of a Cross-America Kayaker released late in 2022. He described headwinds, fog, rough water and silent freighters sneaking up from behind as he paddled upriver on the Oregon side of Puget Island and around the nearby Wallace Island. He could have entered the Westport Slough and exited near the upstream end of Wallace as he was also using Mr. Hay’s book as a guide. I wrote to him regarding his thoughts of the Westport Slough and he replied…

“…In retrospect I wish I had taken it. I suspect I did not for the same reason you cited; uncertainty about the culvert (and running aground in the slough at low water). The Columbia River Water Trail Guide was a little light on the details and didn’t provide a photo. Oh, well, there is always next time.”

I have more trips planned in the area too.

As I left, I stopped at the first bend to take a parting picture westward of the Westport Slough. The +2.6 tide would leave a paddler feeling poorly in this gut.

Here are the numbers that don’t quite agree with each other from MapMy Walk and Garmin.

Let’s keep: 6 miles traveled in 2 hours 20 minutes (according to the Garmin that measured stopped time) with a maximum speed of 5.3 mph averaging 2.4 mph.

16 August 2021: A Mystery of the Clatskanie River

On this trip, I hoped to accomplish a couple of things. The first was to launch at Jones Beach on the Columbia River. This would be all new, as I was following a tip that it was a public launchable site and somewhat sheltered by islands. It’s located about two miles upstream from where the Cathlamet ferry lands in Oregon.

The second was to visit this structure pictured below as spotted during this satellite reconnaissance of the lower Clatskanie River. The shadow to the structure’s left indicates it’s shorter than the surrounding trees but taller than the vehicles parked nearby. Scaled to the vehicles, it appears to be about a hundred feet in diameter. Not the Cuban Missile Crisis but I couldn’t find an online mention of whatever this is from the safety of home.

Starting at Jones Beach, the structure would be about a twelve mile round trip. My last attempt to paddle down the Clatskanie River turned into an Oregon logging adventure when I was needed to set a choker clearing the blocked river.

Just six miles east of Clatskanie is this boarded up solitary restaurant. Seoul food is offered no more. Here is where I turned towards the Columbia and Jones Beach..

Soon there was a bridge where I thought it worth a stop to photograph the floating sheds.

Turns out I once paddled here from Westport to this very bridge, as blogged about here.

Jones Beach has a parking lot and a sandy drag to the water. The eastern Whites and Puget Islands were visible over my van. Wallace Island was visible over the mast upstream. It was where I would need to go to find the Clatskanie. But not from here. There was a 20 mph wind that would take me there in no time at all, but combined with the incoming tide, I might later be walking back. I repacked the mast and went for another route.

Beaver Boat ramp is just on the western edge of the town of Clatskanie. It costs more than the free launch a mile upriver, but it was worth the expense this late in the day.

Downstream I went.

The shore offered protection as the wind bent the grasses, rustled the trees and revealed their silver undersides. Paddling was all the harder now but easier to return later.

I passed under a swing bridge. Here is a detail of the latch that keeps in place.

Further downstream, going left continues on to the Columbia and Jones Beach. I chose the route less traveled to the right.

Soon I passed the channel leading to today’s target. The tide was only +1.7 feet and the weeds were thick. The pilings that once secured log rafts are now raised planters.

I needed to bide time because of the tide. (There is probably another five mile paddle on this branch of the Clatskanie up to the Beaver Falls bridge.)

A float marked a sunken log, while a bird continued upstream. A second upcycled hazard jug / buoy appeared later. The sail rig was lashed onto the kayak as I didn’t totally trust the lock that could secure it to the top of the van.

The low tide offered muddy treats to a local killdeer.

At the Clatskanie District Road bridge is one of the few remaining beehive burners that used to burn waste wood from the local lumber mill.

I turned into a quiet side channel under the rail line to rig up the sail. It’s only eleven pounds, but without outriggers, it proved unsteady. I lashed it down again and headed back to investigate the mysterious structure.

If the owners of this dock were sitting in their bamboo grove, they could have told me what I had missed further upriver on the five mile trip I hadn’t taken. Maybe they had knowledge about the structure I was seeking. However, their motorboat could not follow where I had to go.

The tide had gone down but had returned up to the same +1.7 feet. Only a paddle boat could enter.

Ahead was the structure.

A relic from the cold war or WWII to mount a giant satellite dish? The elevation seems too low for a fancy water tank, plus there is a five hundred foot hill half a mile away.

The buildings are boat garages and moorings, not cabins.

A slow paddle back to the main channel.

There was still enough time to follow the Clatskanie to the Columbia. A nutria watched from the shore.

A hawk hunted over the adjacent fields.

Here is where the Clatskanie meets the Columbia. The same Wallace Island that was behind my mast at Jones Beach is now ahead. A wonderful place to live is on the left.

It may not always be wonderful. It looks like the bank may have been washing away.

Upstream is what looks like a processing plant acquiring a picturesque patina.

Tagging the bow against Wallace Island, I quickly headed back with the rising tide and a fair wind to help.

I was watching a cow far ahead bobbing its head out of the woods towards me. I didn’t see that three of its buddies were already playing on the beach alongside me. This would be a bad idea if I was driving.

The Youngs Bay bridge and others have contact information posted for boaters who need the bridge raised for passage. This may be the sign for this railroad bridge near Beaver Boat Ramp. I didn’t climb up to verify.

After loading up the boat, I admired the air horn and 125 psi tank of this young bicyclist. He cheerfully and loudly demonstrated it and then told of near misses from careless drivers. “Brilliant,” I congratulated. Please watch out for him if you drive that highway.

Beaver Slough winds enticingly off to the upper left. Getting onto it appears unavailable except by portage or private land. Today the tide wasn’t the best but good enough. The mysterious structure had been seen, but not solved.

Forty five minutes stopped time and almost 6 mph with a favourable tide and a tailwind.

12.0 miles traveled in 4 hours 11 minutes with a maximum speed of 5.7 mph averaging 2.9 mph. Stopped time is in minutes

Logging and a Paddle on the Clatskanie River

8 March 2019

Clatskanie, Oregon is located about three quarter the distance from Astoria to the Interstate 5 corridor. It’s just over two miles south of the Columbia River on a farming and dairy delta that I figure it has over sixteen miles of rivers and diked waterways suitable for paddling.

I loaded up the boat the night before to get an early start. It was definitely cold when I looked out but figured if I unpacked and waited for a nicer day, that would be another trip later. If I left now, it would be one cold trip AND one nice trip later, twice as many.

Time for a second cuppa while I considered the fun factor.

The Beaver Creek boat ramp across from the Safeway charges $5 and was the only launch point I had known in the area until I recently read about a free launch in the city park. It’s a grand park with a pool, a covered skateboard park, courts, fields, just bunches of stuff.

A quiet park today due to the brisk weather.

The boat ramp is concrete and was indeed free.

Downriver was blocked so upriver I went.

I found out later that this log had been here over two weeks.

A greeting committee noisily asked if I had any treats.

I took the sail kit along as it might help later me to get home faster.

For the time being, there was no wind as I headed through town.

The view from the water.

Then it was under the Columbia River Highway bridge and off to the fields.

A flock of sheep watched.

A real sheepdog

Licorice fern decorated this fishing spot.

The Olson Road bridge 2.5 miles later

Not the worst of obstacles but google earth had shown me that there wasn’t much further I could go without walking.

Besides, I wanted to head for the Columbia River and some of the many channels I had seen.

Grass tufts and logs over my head indicate that the river has been a lot higher recently.

Below the launch, I confronted the log across the river. First I tried the fast approach over the top. Didn’t work. Then I drug the boat on shore and pushed it in past the log and that worked. It takes longer than over the top as I tend to roll in and out of the boat like a sea lion while I try to not to sink in the mud.

It was then that someone from Kuiper’s Auctions, located near the base of the log, offered to pull out the log if I would set his choke cable. The shore drops straight down deeper than my 7.5 foot paddle. It would require a low stable boat and someone fool enough to nose in and put their forehead on the log and give the log a hug while feeding the cable underneath. Meanwhile, this volunteer needed to grasp the receding boat with their feet.  If the choke cable sank, it was gone, so this volunteer tied it off. All done pretty safely with witnesses.

Pockets were emptied first, then I remembered to remove my watch.

At first, the forklift could only drag it ‘into’ and not ‘up’ the bank but with a barrel under the chain they were able to get enough vertical lift.

Here is 20 seconds of logging the river.

future firewood

Now it was time to head downstream.

Setting seeds for spring.

running bamboo

The Beaver Creek ramp,

Back to the city park.

I was met by Tank the dog. I found out he earned his name by the way he crawled over the rest of his litter. His owner had a canoe and started telling me about other launches nearby that the locals use and then he offered to show a couple to me.  From here it’s over two hours to paddle to the Columbia River and back. It could be closer if there was a nearer launch. He also bought a copy of my book listing many local launch sites.

We discussed Jones Beach on the Columbia River nearby. It has a broad white sand (or snow) beach. I’ve left it out of my book because the shipping channel is right there and there are no sheltered feeder rivers within three miles. Abernathy Point and County Line Park have the same problem. I was intrigued and followed his truck.

Several of the roads run along the top of the dikes.

He pointed out a house that allows him to launch off their beach and this fishing station along the Columbia River. He then cautioned me about asking the owner as I looked a little closer.

Turns out he works as an assembler for Sunshine Greenhouses across the river… I was an assembler of sorts for years. Sunshine Greenhouses are redwood framed, expandable, and have the same plastic panels we have on ours.

I drove back towards Clatskanie as the sun went down.

Next time the log will be gone and I can check out more of this beautiful area.

Meanwhile, when I got home, there was still snow in the shady parts.

4.74 miles traveled in 1 hour 41 minutes with a maximum speed of 7.1 mph (in the car while parking) averaging 2.8 mph. 48.33 minutes stopped, with an Oregon lumber adventure.