Course of the Willamette River

The Willamette River ( (listen) wil-AM-it) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia. Originally created by plate tectonics about 35 million years ago and subsequently altered by volcanism and erosion, the river's drainage basin was significantly modified by the Missoula Floods at the end of the most recent ice age. Humans began living in the watershed over 10,000 years ago. There were once many tribal villages along the lower river and in the area around its mouth on the Columbia. Indigenous peoples lived throughout the upper reaches of the basin as well. Rich with sediments deposited by flooding and fed by prolific rainfall on the western side of the Cascades, the Willamette Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural regions in North America, and was thus the destination of many 19th-century pioneers traveling west along the Oregon Trail. The river was an important transportation route in the 19th century, although Willamette Falls, just upstream from Portland, was a major barrier to boat traffic. In the 21st century, major highways follow the river, and roads cross the main stem on approximately 30 different bridges. In addition to sharing some of those, more than half a dozen bridges not open to motorized vehicles provide separate crossings for bicycles and pedestrians (mostly in the Eugene area), and several others are exclusively for rail traffic. There are also ferries that convey cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians across the river for a fare and provided river conditions permit. They are the Buena Vista Ferry between Marion County and Polk County south of Independence and Salem, the Wheatland Ferry between Marion County and Polk County north of Salem and Keizer, and Canby Ferry in Clackamas County north of Canby. Since 1900, more than 15 large dams and many smaller ones have been built in the Willamette's drainage basin, 13 of which are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The dams are used primarily to produce hydroelectricity, to maintain reservoirs for recreation, and to prevent flooding. The river and its tributaries support 60 fish species, including many species of salmon and trout; this is despite the dams, other alterations, and pollution (especially on the river's lower reaches). Part of the Willamette Floodplain was established as a National Natural Landmark in 1987 and the river was named as one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998.

The Willamette River Light was a navigational lighthouse at the mouth of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon near Portland, which marked the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. It existed as a lighthouse with keeper from 1895 to 1935, and as an unattended light from 1935 onwards. The original building burned down in 1955. The only visible remains of the station today are broken wooden pilings sticking out of the water near Kelley Point Park.

Kelley Point Park is a city park in north Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Bounded by the Columbia Slough on the south, the Willamette River on the west, and the Columbia River on the north, the park forms the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the rivers. Marine Terminal 6 of the Port of Portland lies immediately east of the park along the Columbia, while Terminal 5 is along the Willamette slightly south of the Columbia Slough. The park is at 45.6498384°N 122.7637106°W / 45.6498384; -122.7637106 (Kelley Point City Park) and rises to an elevation of 39 feet (12 m) above sea level. Sauvie Island is west of the park across the Willamette River. Hayden Island is slightly upstream of the park on the Columbia River opposite Marine Terminal 6.

The Columbia Slough is a narrow waterway, about 19 miles (31 km) long, in the floodplain of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source in the Portland suburb of Fairview, the Columbia Slough meanders west through Gresham and Portland to the Willamette River, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia. It is a remnant of the historic wetlands between the mouths of the Sandy River to the east and the Willamette River to the west. Levees surround much of the main slough as well as many side sloughs, detached sloughs, and nearby lakes. Drainage district employees control water flows with pumps and floodgates. Tidal fluctuations cause reverse flow on the lower slough. The Columbia floodplain, formed by geologic processes including lava flows, volcanic eruptions, and the Missoula Floods, is part of the Portland Basin, which extends across the Columbia River from Multnomah County, Oregon, into Clark County, Washington. Five percent of Oregon's population, about 158,000 people, live in the slough watershed of about 51 square miles (130 km2). Municipal wells near the upper slough provide supplemental drinking water to Portland and nearby cities. The cities, the drainage districts, the county, and a regional government, Metro, have overlapping jurisdictions in the watershed. A regional agency operates Portland International Airport along the middle slough and marine terminals near the lower slough. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the city's Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) deal with environmental issues. Long before non-indigenous people explored the region, tribes of Native Americans fished and hunted along the slough. In the early 19th century fur trappers and explorers including Lewis and Clark visited the area before large migrations of settlers began arriving from the east. The newcomers farmed, cut timber, built houses, and by the early 20th century established cities, shipping ports, roads, rail lines and industries near the slough. Increased investment in the floodplain led to larger losses during floods, and these losses prompted levee building that greatly altered the area. A flood pouring through a levee break in 1948 destroyed the city of Vanport, which was never rebuilt. Used as a waste repository during the first half of the 20th century and cut off from the Columbia River by levees, the slough became one of Oregon's most polluted waterways. Early attempts to mitigate the pollution, which included raw sewage and industrial waste, were unsuccessful. However, in 1952 Portland began sewage treatment, and over the next six decades the federal Clean Water Act and similar legislation mandated further cleanup. State and local governments, often assisted by community volunteers, undertook projects related to public health, natural resources, and recreation in a region with many homes, industries, businesses, and roads. The businesses and industries in the watershed employ about 57,000 people, which is also frequented by more than 150 bird species and 26 fish species and animals including otters, beaver, and coyotes. One of the nation's largest freshwater urban wetlands, Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, shares the lower slough watershed with a sewage treatment plant, marine terminals, a golf course, and a car racetrack. Watercraft able to portage over culverts and levees can travel the entire length of the slough. The 40-Mile Loop and other hiking and biking trails follow the waterways and connect the parks.

Wapato Corrections Facility (also known as the Wapato Detention Facility, and colloquially Wapato Jail) is a building that was originally built as a Multnomah County jail in 2003 in the heavy industrial area of St. Johns neighborhood of Portland. It has never been put into service as a jail and was kept vacant until it was repurposed into the Bybee Lakes Hope Center homeless shelter which opened in October 2020.

Nemalquinner (phonetic: nimáɬx̣ʷinix) was a Native American settlement inhabited by a band of Chinookan peoples on the east bank of the Willamette River near what is now the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in the United States about 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream of where the Willamette River enters the Columbia River. When encountered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in April 1806, it was reported to have one large longhouse, a few smaller ones, and a population between 100 and 200 people. People dwelling near Willamette Falls upstream would come here to gather wapato roots.The term Nemalquinner may have also been applied to the inhabitants of this location.

Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area is a public park and nature reserve between the Columbia Slough and the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. At about 2,000 acres (810 ha), it is one of the largest urban freshwater wetlands in the United States. Metro, the regional government for the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area, manages the park. A covered shelter, restrooms, a paved walkway, and a canoe launch lie on the north side of the natural area. Although surrounded by port terminals, warehouses, and commercial areas, Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife including beaver, bald eagles and western painted turtles. An artificial water-control system helps keep the wetlands wet. Other systems collect methane and prevent leaching from a closed landfill near the south edge of the park.

The North Portland Harbor is an Oregon waterway or channel in Multnomah County, specifically in Portland. An anabranch, about 5 miles (8 km) long, of the Columbia River, it separates Hayden and Tomahawk islands from the mainland. Flowing generally northwest, the channel rejoins the main stem slightly upstream of Kelley Point Park and the mouth of the Willamette River.The Interstate Bridge carries Interstate 5 (I-5) over the channel, and farther downstream the Oregon Slough Railroad Bridge carries rail traffic. The BNSF Railway crosses North Portland Harbor over the rail bridge.Terminal 6 of the Port of Portland lies along the mainland shore of the channel. Northeast Marine Drive runs roughly parallel to the channel for much of its length.The official name registered with the United States Board on Geographic Names is North Portland Harbor, although historically other names have been applied. These include Oregon Slough and Hayden Slough.

St. Johns is a neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States, located in North Portland on the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Willamette River and the Columbia River. It was a separate, incorporated city from 1902 until 1915, when citizens of both St. Johns and Portland voted to approve its annexation to Portland, which took effect on July 8, 1915.St. Johns is bordered by the Columbia River to the northeast, the Willamette River to the northwest, the North Portland railroad cut to the southeast, and a number of streets separating it from Cathedral Park to the southwest, primarily North Ivanhoe Street.

Chimney Park is a 18.39-acre (7.44 ha) public park in Portland, Oregon's St. Johns neighborhood, in the United States. The park was acquired in 1932; formerly the site of a city incinerator, the park was named after the incinerator's chimney.

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was a World War II emergency shipyard located along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. The shipyard built nearly 600 Liberty and Victory ships between 1941 and 1945 under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was closed after the war ended. The shipyard, one of three Kaiser Shipyards in the area, was in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland. The two others were the Swan Island Shipyard, located several miles upriver on Swan Island; and the Vancouver Shipyard, located across the Columbia River from Portland in Vancouver, Washington.Among the ships built by Oregon Shipbuilding was the Star of Oregon, which was launched on Liberty Fleet Day, September 27, 1941. The rapid expansion of Portland area shipyards during World War II and contraction afterward caused similar expansion and contraction of the population of Vanport City, Oregon, which was also built by Henry J. Kaiser to house the workers of the three area shipyards.The former site of Oregon Shipbuilding in St. Johns is now Schnitzer Steel Industries.

Vancouver Lake is located just west of Vancouver, Washington, United States, north of the Columbia River and Portland, Oregon, south of Ridgefield, Washington, and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The lake is shallow, with a maximum depth of 12 to 15 feet (3.7 to 4.6 m) and a mean depth of less than 3 feet (0.9 m). There is an island in the northern half of the lake named Turtle Island. The island was formed from the tailings of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project, which dredged around the perimeter of the lake in the early 1980s. Lake River flows from the north shore to the Columbia River near Ridgefield. Due to seasonal variation in relative river and lake levels, Lake River experiences intermittent flow reversal and flows into Vancouver Lake for considerable periods of time. The sources for Vancouver Lake's water include a flushing channel (equipped with tidal gates to control flows) from the Columbia River near the southwest shoreline and Burnt Bridge Creek on the eastern shoreline, which winds about ten miles (sixteen kilometres) through many of the city's residential areas. Until the 1980s, this creek was neglected and a major source of pollution for the lake. Lower River Road leads west out of Vancouver to a park on the shore of Vancouver Lake which includes a large swimming area. A trail leads to Frenchman's Bar Park on the nearby Columbia River.