3 Rocks at Salmon River - Knight Park

 Our second outing brought us to Knight Park in Lincoln County, near Lincoln City, on the Salmon River. This is a bit closer to home for us, and close to the beach if we want to go their after kayaking. The park has plenty of parking, an outhouse, and the boat ramp is small but adequate. It was not very busy when we went on a Saturday.











When you put in, you can head downriver toward the ocean, or upriver into the wetlands. We chose to start downriver. The tide was heading out, but that had little to do with it. It was a bit windy, and the water was choppy, but not too bad for kayaks. Not sure how a paddle board would handle. I had little waves breaking on my bow. 


There is a wonderful beach on the south side of the river, and several families had taken a variety of boats there. We watched new parents taking their very young child across the river in a rowboat (all with appropriate water safety gear!) The grandparents filmed their journey from the shore. Very cute. Apparently there is no other access. It is on the opposite side of the cape from Road's End beach in North Lincoln City. We kayaked down almost to the surf. I was worried about getting stuck with the tide coming out, so I didn't go all the way there. 

We then headed back upriver, taking a short pit stop at the park. Heading East, we could see that the high tide would allow us to take some of the smaller inlets into the wetlands, but the river was too low for us to do that, so we followed the main channel. I wandered off toward the side, and got stuck on a shallow sand bar, one of the issues with the pedal kayak. I got to get out and pull the kayak to deeper water. Not a big deal, but a hassle. 

While there was not a lot of wildlife, we did get to see this bald eagle perched on an old log at the river bank. It held still for quite a while before taking flight. Then it only flew a little way downriver, so we got to see it again on our way back. 


All in all, a nice outing. Not crowded, change of scenery, not too difficult. If we go back, I would try to get there close to high tide to take some of the side trips, and hopefully not get stuck. I'd also like to try to go all the way to the surf. Now that I know there is a nice beach to hang out on, I might give that a try!



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