Travel Oregon and other groups join forces on a concept to create a river trail on the Willamette

A consortium of organizations has joined forces with the goal of restoring recreational access to a local stretch of the Willamette River.

The state agency Travel Oregon has partnered with Taste Newberg, a Yamhill County steering committee, the city of Newberg and the Chehalem Park and Recreation District to take on the project.

The groups held a community meeting in April to take input from the citizenry on their plans to create an access point for nonmotorized activities like kayaking and canoeing at a site on the Willamette River from Butteville to the mouth of the Yamhill River.

Headlined “A Riverfront Reimagined,” the meeting highlighted the preliminary concept for the project, took feedback and answered questions.

The gathering is part of Travel Oregon’s “Recreation Ready” program, which according to a release is “designed to support rural communities in developing outdoor recreation visitor experiences that drive economic prosperity, respect natural environments, and increase access and equity.”

Newberg is one of four cities tagged by Travel Oregon to participate in the Recreation Ready program in 2025, joining La Grande, Cave Junction/Illinois Valley and McKenzie River Valley.

Successful applicants, according to its website, will work with Travel Oregon in two phases: Communities will receive education, technical assistance and capacity to determine the feasibility of the project concepts, then the projects are eligible to receive additional technical assistance and financial investment in order to advance the concepts of the project.

Creation of what organizers are calling a “regional water trail” on the river became necessary when in 2017 the park district was forced to close its popular Chehalem Paddle Launch in Dundee after a nearby land owner curtailed access to the site.

The location adjacent to Ash Island was ideal because it allowed access to a backwater channel of the river that wasn’t frequented by powered marine craft.

Travel Oregon says eight sites are being considered for the location of the access point: Butteville; Champoeg State Heritage Area; the park district’s Heritage Campground (not yet constructed), the city of Newberg’s wellfield, a parcel of land in northern Marion County across the river from the city; Rogers Landing County Park; at the confluence of the Willamette and Yamhill rivers near Lafayette; at the former site of the Chahelm Paddle Launch; and the site of the long decommissioned Newberg landfill, which sits just upstream from Rogers Landing.