Rock Island and Little Rock Island

Rock Island (67 acres)and Little Rock Island (12 acres) make a great suburban getaway. The area has madrone and oak-covered hillsides and rock faces overlooking the deep and relatively narrow Willamette channel. The back channel behind Little Rock Island is worth the trip.

At summer water levels canoes and kayaks can maneuver through a portion of Big Rock Island via narrow cuts in the basalt. At higher water levels these narrow channels have strainers. The thin soils of Little Rock Island support the rare white rock larkspur. Stay on the shoreline of Little Rock Island to avoid the vast amount of poison oak, and to protect the native plants.

Like the Rock Island Landing, Rock Island was purchased with funding from the 1995 Metro Greenspaces bond. From this funding, Metro was able to acquire natural areas throughout the Portland metropolitan region. In November of 2006 a new bond measure was passed that will provide another opportunity to purchase land for the public. Rock Island and Rock Island Landing are fine examples of the benefits of this program.