Water level at Rooster Rock - 2014
Some info for others like me who like to know the beach conditions before heading out:
Rooster Rock State Park is one of the two nude beaches in the Portland, OR area. It's a river beach on the Columbia River, so beach conditions vary widely depending on water levels, influenced both by the season and by the water released from the Bonneville Dam a few miles upstream.
There is a beach on the mainland and large island, Sand Island, just off shore. Both areas are clothing optional. Water levels greatly determine which parts of the beach are easily accessible. It's a bit of a hike from the parking lot to the beach, and sometimes the trails are flooded even when the beach is dry.
The National Weather Service maintains a graph of the river levels here:https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=pqr&gage=bono3&hydro_type=0
The following is an estimate of beach conditions based on the river gauge:
23-25 feet: Almost all low-lying areas in the park are under water. There is probably no beach.Consider going to the nude beach at Sauvie Island instead.
20-21 feet: Most of the mainland beach is flooded. Most trails are flooded. Sand Island can only be reached by boat.These are the typical conditions in May and June.
18 feet: The mainland beach is above water, though some access trails may still be flooded or muddy. Typical of July.
15-16 feet: Trails on the mainland start to dry out. It's usually possible to wade through waist-deep water to get to Sand Island. Typical of late July and early August.
12 feet: The sandbar connecting Sand Island to the mainland is above water. You can walk to Sand Island and without even getting your feet wet. This is the best time to go. Typical of mid-August through October.
Water levels may vary by several feet within a single day, based on dam operations. So always check the river gauge before going, especially early in the summer. Water level also tends to go up in the afternoon, so a trail that's dry when you arrive might be flooded when you leave.
I plan to update this thread with condition reports when I go. I welcome others doing the same.
Went to Rooster Rock today. River gauge level has been fluctuating between 13-15' most of the week, and was at about 13.5' when I was there. The trails on the mainland are all dry. It's possible to wade to Sand Island through knee-deep water. Some low-lying parts of Sand Island were a little muddy, but all in all the conditions were good.
One little piece of advice: If you're going out to the island, take your clothes off beforeyou start wading. It amazes me how many people don't think of this, and end up with wet clothes only to take them off a few minutes later anyway.
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