Estacada Lake — Attraction in Sandy

It's very easy to launch a kayak or SUP here. I parked at the dam for free. Walked about 25 yards to the end of the parking lot, which ends in a paved launch. Easy! A little bottleneck at launch, once you get past the people, you're in open water space with lovely views left, right, and forward. There were small waterfalls on the July day I went. Plenty of paddlers, but also plenty of room to spread out. There are some really beautiful basalt mounds and 25' long vines just past the bridge. It looks tropical and is a cool and inviting escape on a hot day. I was in the water with no neoprene for about 20 minutes without getting chilled. It was a nice departure from my usual launch spots. Not many places to beach a vessel, it's primarily for paddlers....

Estacada lake is great and has a lot to offer. The boat ramp gets packed with kayakers and people paddle boarding. They have a paddle and kayak rental place on the ramp. I'm actually surprised people with more than a small fishing boat even attempt to launch here especially on weekends. We made that mistake once. You can't even go over 5mph without swerving around 10 paddlers in the way. Not to mention all the logs sticking out in the middle of the lake without appropriate signage or warning. Its very dangerous for...

First don't trust the directions by google. It takes you to nowhere but in the middle of a busy road. The lake can be assessed inside Milo Mciver State Park. This is a great place for paddling. It's a little windy in the afternoon so try to get here in am. To find the secret waterfalls, paddle past the bridge and continue to...