New push to draw tourism to clean, safe Willamette River December 30 2020
Local groups working on ways to highlight the river as a travel destination with Willamette Valley Visitors Association.
While she saw more water-goers flock to the Willamette River this summer than ever before due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Heather King, the deputy director for the Willamette Riverkeeper nonprofit organization, said the waterway can sometimes be an afterthought compared to other destinations the Mackenzie or John Day rivers. It is a beautiful river. It s a river you can take overnight trips on and never see another boat on the river depending on the trip, King said. People just don t think about it as a place to go.