Collins Beach (Sauvie Island)

🏊Swimming at Collins Beach (Sauvie Island)

Swimming is at your own risk with no lifeguards. The sand slopes into the main stem of the Columbia, so the water can go from wading depth to over your head quickly, and the river current is strong just offshore. The Columbia stays cold well into summer, so most people wade and take short dips close to shore from July through early September. Columbia Riverkeeper samples the water here for E. coli every two weeks from May through September, and results have generally met the swimming standard.

📍How to get to this swimming hole

From Portland take US-30 (St. Helens Road) northwest to the Sauvie Island Bridge. Cross onto the island, follow NW Sauvie Island Road about two miles, then take NW Reeder Road across the island and north along the Columbia. Pass Walton Beach; the pavement ends and Collins Beach begins about a quarter mile later, around milepost 11. Parking is along the road at numbered beach access trails, and a sign marks the start of the clothing-optional area. On summer weekends expect a permit check station near Reeder Road and Rentenaar Road.

Parking: Roadside parking areas along NW Reeder Road serving numbered access trails to the beach. A Sauvie Island Beaches Parking Permit ($10/day) is required on summer weekends and holidays (mid-June through Labor Day); an ODFW Wildlife Area Parking Permit ($10/day or $30/year) covers other days. Vehicles without a valid permit can be cited or towed.

🥾The walk in

No real hike here. The water is a short walk from where you park. No real hike. Short sandy access trails lead from the roadside parking through the trees to the beach; no source gives exact distances, but they are brief walks of a few minutes.

💬What regulars say

Arrive early on hot summer weekends and buy the Sauvie Island Beaches permit in advance, since daily permits can sell out. The clothing-optional zone is clearly signed at both ends; if you prefer a clothed beach, Walton Beach is next door to the south. Bring shade, water and water shoes, and keep an eye on the channel: when a big ship goes by, pull kids and gear back from the waterline before the wake arrives.

📜Backstory

Collins Beach has been used as a nude beach since at least the 1970s. Its clothing and clothing-optional zones are set out in ODFW's 1993 Sauvie Island Beach Use Plan, which is adjudicated through the Columbia County Circuit Court, and the beach is administered by ODFW in cooperation with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. After years of DUII arrests, fights and drownings linked to drinking on the island, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission banned alcohol on the wildlife area from May through September starting in 2018. In 2026 ODFW introduced a separate Sauvie Island Beaches Parking Permit for Walton, Collins and North Unit beaches on summer weekends and holidays to curb double-parking along Reeder Road that was blocking emergency access.