Home › Waters › Oregon › Clackamas River

River · Northwest Oregon in Clackamas County, from the Mount Hood National Forest through Estacada to the Willamette at Oregon City · Oregon

Clackamas River Fishing Guides

Portland's home steelhead river, running clear and cold out of the Mount Hood forest with a strong winter run and drift boat water within an hour of the city.

A wooden drift boat pulled onto a gravel bar on a Pacific Northwest river

Map of the Clackamas River

37 numbered points: 9 access points, 13 campsites, 7 parks and conservation areas, 1 agency office, 4 hazards, 1 USGS gauge, 2 points of interest. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 15, 2026.

Printable version →

Access / boat ramp (9)
Campsite (13)
Park / conservation area (7)
Agency / conservation office (1)
Dam / hazard (4)
USGS gauge (1)
Point of interest (2)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

Open the printable map

All 37 points on this map

#	Point	Type	Lat, Lon	Notes
1	Riverford Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.03252, -122.05894	Small Forest Service camp on the upper Clackamas off FR 46, near the Collawash junction.
2	Riverside Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.04255, -122.06250	Riverbank camp on FR 46; the Riverside National Recreation Trail runs from here downstream.
3	Riverside Trailhead Riverside National Recreation Trail	Point of interest	45.05756, -122.05267	North end of the 4-mile riverside trail between Rainbow and Riverside campgrounds.
4	Rainbow Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.07655, -122.04515	At the Oak Grove Fork confluence, the head of the Hwy 224 campground ladder.
5	Alder Flat Trailhead Alder Flat Trail, Mt. Hood NF	Point of interest	45.08074, -122.05621	Mile-long walk-in to a riverside hike-in camp on the Clackamas.
6	Indian Henry Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.10880, -122.07339	Large Hwy 224 campground; the Clackamas River Trail trailhead is at the same site.
7	Sunstrip Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.15055, -122.10572	Small camp on the river side of Hwy 224.
8	Roaring River Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.15864, -122.11586	At the Roaring River confluence on Hwy 224.
9	Hole in the Wall Day Use Area Mt. Hood National Forest	Park / conservation area	45.16489, -122.12247	Day-use site with a river ramp; OSM maps the ramp only as an unnamed slipway here.
10	Fish Creek Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.15897, -122.15267	At the Fish Creek confluence, opposite the main upper-river raft put-in.
11	Fish Creek Wooden Boat Slide Raft and drift boat slide	Access / boat ramp	45.15757, -122.15143	The upper-river put-in at Fish Creek; a wooden slide rather than a paved ramp.
12	Armstrong Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.16195, -122.15248
13	Lockaby Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.16538, -122.15312
14	Carter Bridge Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.16786, -122.15620
15	Carter Bridge Day Use Site Mt. Hood National Forest	Park / conservation area	45.16767, -122.15744	River day-use site across Hwy 224 from the campground of the same name.
16	Big Eddy Day Use Site Mt. Hood National Forest	Park / conservation area	45.18194, -122.16907	Day-use site above the Big Eddy rapid.
17	Moore Creek Boat Access Site Mt. Hood National Forest	Access / boat ramp	45.19539, -122.18932	Forest Service boat access on the lower canyon reach.
18	Lazy Bend Campground Mt. Hood National Forest	Campsite	45.19029, -122.20787	The lowest Forest Service campground on the Hwy 224 corridor.
19	Promontory Park Campground Portland General Electric	Campsite	45.21806, -122.23872	On North Fork Reservoir, not free-flowing river; PGE park at the head of the impoundment.
20	North Fork Dam PGE hydroelectric dam	Dam / hazard	45.24337, -122.27983	Head of the three-dam PGE stretch; no through passage.
21	Cazadero Dam PGE hydroelectric dam	Dam / hazard	45.25185, -122.29839
22	Faraday Dam PGE hydroelectric dam	Dam / hazard	45.26709, -122.31768	Faraday Dam and its forebay dam sit within 300 m of each other here.
23	Estacada Lake Boat Ramp Estacada Lake	Access / boat ramp	45.29760, -122.34924	Ramp on the slackwater of Estacada Lake above River Mill Dam.
24	River Mill Dam PGE hydroelectric dam	Dam / hazard	45.29922, -122.35090	The lowest dam on the Clackamas; the free-flowing float reach starts below it.
25	USGS 14210000 - Clackamas River at Estacada USGS streamgage	USGS gauge	45.29984, -122.35397	Discharge and stage for the whole lower river; the number most Clackamas floaters read.
26	Milo McIver Campground Oregon State Parks	Campsite	45.29715, -122.35322	Campground inside Milo McIver State Park, above the upper boat ramp.
27	Upper McIver Boat Ramp Milo McIver State Park	Access / boat ramp	45.29938, -122.36040	The standard put-in for the Estacada-to-Barton drift.
28	Clackamas Hatchery ODFW fish hatchery	Agency / conservation office	45.29587, -122.36160	Hatchery and visitor centre on the park road; two OSM features merged here.
29	Milo McIver State Park Oregon State Parks	Park / conservation area	45.29995, -122.37399	Day use, camping and both McIver ramps in one park below River Mill Dam.
30	Lower McIver Boat Ramp Milo McIver State Park	Access / boat ramp	45.31205, -122.38030	Second ramp in the park, below the upper launch.
31	Elmer Feldheimer Boat Landing River access	Access / boat ramp	45.32798, -122.38218	Boat landing on the reach between McIver and Barton.
32	Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area Oregon State Parks	Park / conservation area	45.35035, -122.38225	Walk-in day-use area at the Eagle Creek confluence.
33	Barton Park Clackamas County park	Park / conservation area	45.38146, -122.40675	Campground, day use and the busiest boat ramp on the lower river.
34	Carver Park and Boat Ramp Clackamas County park	Access / boat ramp	45.39107, -122.49456	The usual take-out for the Barton drift.
35	Charles Ames Memorial City Park City of Gladstone	Park / conservation area	45.37834, -122.59195	Riverfront park on the last mile of the Clackamas.
36	Clackamette Park Boat Ramp Oregon City	Access / boat ramp	45.37227, -122.60302	Ramp at the mouth, where the Clackamas meets the Willamette.
37	Dahl Beach Oregon City	Access / boat ramp	45.37300, -122.60737	Beach and hand launch at Clackamette Park.

Guides on the Clackamas River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

Pacific Drifter Guide Service

Gresham, OR

Fishes Clackamas River, Nehalem River

Full-Day Float

Public website

Check availability Claim this profile

About the Clackamas River

The Clackamas rises in the Cascades inside the Mount Hood National Forest and runs northwest through Estacada to join the Willamette at Oregon City. It is the closest genuinely good salmon and steelhead river to Portland, which means it carries pressure, but it also means an angler can be on productive drift water within an hour of downtown. The upper river above the dams is a clear, cold, boulder-and-pocket-water trout stream through heavy timber. Below Estacada it opens into the classic Northwest drift boat reach: long green runs, ledge rock, and gravel tailouts that hold fish in predictable places.

Winter steelhead are the headline. The run builds through December and peaks in late winter, and the lower river from Barton down to Carver is drifted hard through that stretch of the year. Summer steelhead follow in the warm months and are typically fished higher up. Spring chinook run in good numbers and are a serious fishery in their own right, and coho arrive in the fall. Above the dams and in the headwater reaches, resident rainbow trout, coastal cutthroat and mountain whitefish make for quiet fishing that almost nobody bothers with.

The river is dam-influenced in its middle reaches, which steadies flows somewhat but also means levels can change on a release schedule rather than only with rain. Hatchery and wild retention rules here are specific, change between reaches, and change between years, so reading the current regulations for the exact section being fished is not optional. The gauge at Estacada reports flow and temperature and is the standard reference for whether the lower drifts are in shape. First-time visitors should also be prepared for company on the popular winter drifts, and anglers who want solitude will find far more of it by heading upstream into the forest water above the reservoirs.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Clackamas River.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

Add a photo of this water See the badges

Pioneer badgeUnclaimed

Add a photo of this water

Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.

Your name

Your email Never published. It is how the badge is held for you until member accounts open.

Posting to Clackamas River.

Photo JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. Landscape orientation looks best at the top of the page. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

Date taken

Credit it toThe name printed under the photo and on your badge. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Anything worth saying about it?

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.

Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

This is my photograph and I accept the reader photo license v1.0 above: GuidedFloats may publish it with that credit, I hold the rights to it, anyone recognisable in it agrees, and I can withdraw it at any time.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Your name

Your email Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Clackamas River.

Species

Date caught

Photo JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

Credit it toThe name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Anything worth saying about it?

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.

Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

2. What you confirm

3. Credit

4. Withdrawing the license

5. What we may do

6. Your details

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Barton Park - the most-used drift boat launch on the lower river and the top of the classic float.
Carver boat ramp - the standard take-out below Barton and a heavily fished bank reach.
Riverside Park in Estacada - the gauge site with bank access and an upper-river launch.
McIver State Park near Estacada - large park with a ramp, camping and good bank water.
Bonnie Lure State Recreation Site - access at the Eagle Creek confluence.
High Rocks at Gladstone - lower-river bank fishing close to the Willamette confluence.
Upper Clackamas above North Fork Reservoir - forest road access to the trout and whitefish water.

Seasons

Spring: spring chinook enter the river and late winter steelhead are still moving through the drifts.
Summer: low clear flows, summer steelhead higher up, and good trout fishing above the reservoirs.
Fall: coho arrive, flows come back with the first rains, and pressure drops noticeably.
Winter: the main event, with winter steelhead building through the season and the lower drifts busy.

From the water

No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.

Log this water

Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.

Questions

What is the current flow on the Clackamas River?

As of Sep 17, 5:45 am, the USGS gauge CLACKAMAS RIVER AT ESTACADA, OR reads 649 cfs, with water temperature 58.3 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Clackamas River?

Anglers target Chinook Salmon, Coastal Cutthroat Trout, Coho Salmon, Mountain Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, Steelhead on the Clackamas River in Oregon.

Are there fishing guides on the Clackamas River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Clackamas River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Clackamas River?

Barton Park - the most-used drift boat launch on the lower river and the top of the classic float. Carver boat ramp - the standard take-out below Barton and a heavily fished bank reach. Riverside Park in Estacada - the gauge site with bank access and an upper-river launch. McIver State Park near Estacada - large park with a ramp, camping and good bank water. Bonnie Lure State Recreation Site - access at the Eagle Creek confluence. High Rocks at Gladstone - lower-river bank fishing close to the Willamette confluence. Upper Clackamas above North Fork Reservoir - forest road access to the trout a...

When is the best time to fish the Clackamas River?

Spring: spring chinook enter the river and late winter steelhead are still moving through the drifts. Summer: low clear flows, summer steelhead higher up, and good trout fishing above the reservoirs. Fall: coho arrive, flows come back with the first rains, and pressure drops noticeably. Winter: the main event, with winter steelhead building through the season and the lower drifts busy.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Clackamas River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Oregon agency site: https://myodfw.com/fishing/regulations

At a glance

State: Oregon
Licence: Oregon fishing licence
Type: River
Gauge: USGS 14210000
Guides: 1

Species

Water is 58°F right now. Each species is marked against the range it prefers.

Chinook Salmon in range
Coastal Cutthroat Trout in range
Coho Salmon in range
Mountain Whitefish in range
Rainbow Trout in range
Steelhead 58° high

Preferred ranges are from each species page and are a guide, not a rule.

Regulations

Rules change by season and section. Read the current regulations from the Oregon agency. We never restate regulations.

Nearby waters

Flow, gauge height, and water temperature: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System, provisional data subject to revision. Percentile computed from USGS daily statistics for this calendar day. All data sources.