Spring Park/ Elk Rock Island

Milwaukie, Oregon

Spring Park is a little gem of a park tucked into the suburbs of Milwaukie. The trail through the park leads to Elk Rock Island where you are met by large bedrock beaches. The soreline and island represents part of an ancient volcano that erupted about 40 million years ago. The large, jagged rocks (Waverly Heights basalt) found throughout the island were formed by lava flows, and may be the oldest exposed rock in the Portland area.
The island contains seven distinct habitats, including wetlands, forests, and grasslands. Across the river, there are high cliffs which are Elk Rock proper. A Native American legend holds that this was a good spot to stampede a herd of elk over the cliff. The island gets its name from being near Elk Rock.

There are several protected places to swim in this area and it also has access to a narrows area of the mainstem Willamette. During higher water, Elk Rock Island is separated from Spring Park by a channel during higher water.

This site is sampled twice monthly from June 1 through October 1 and monthly from October 2- May 30

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

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Special Status
This means the affiliate organization managing a beach has set the beach status based on special local knowledge or information. Check the beach description and the Sources section for details.

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Current Weather

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The Oregon state water quality standard provides that a single sample shall not exceed 406 E.coli colonies/100 mL of water and the geometric mean of 5 samples within 30 days shall not exceed 126 colonies/100 mL. The EPA recommended standard is more protective and provides that a single sample shall not exceed 235 colonies/100mL and the geometric mean of 5 samples within 30 days shall not exceed 126 colonies/100mL. The Swim Guide will utilize the EPA standard for Oregon beaches.

There is currently very limited water quality monitoring of Oregon's inland swim beaches. The federal Beach Act does not cover freshwater or riverine beaches, and the state of Oregon does not monitor swim beaches or recreation sites on the Willamette River .

Willamette Riverkeeper monitors many major swim beaches along the length of the Willamette River system through their Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program. Sites are sampled twice monthly June through September. Between October and May, Beaches are sampled once per month.
In Portland, The Portland Boathouse Dock (adjacent to the Eastside Swim Bowl), Riverplace Marina Dock (adjacent to Tom McCall Bowl) and the Sellwood Park Dock are monitored by the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services Water Quality Division.

The Swim Guide's safety ratings are based solely on E.coli levels. While E.coli concentration is a useful indicator of fecal contamination, there are many other potential sources of pollution on the Willamette that are not reflected in the Swim Guide. These include other bacteria, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, high temperatures and pesticides.

Water Quality Graph