Sandy River Mouth West Bank
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Location
From I-84 take exit 17. Turn left onto NE Marine Dr, go 1 mile, turn right onto NW Sundial Rd. Go about 1 mile and just before the road makes a sharp left turn there are a few parking spots on the right. From there, follow the paved path that goes along Company Lake and make the first left turn onto a dirt path going downhill and north. This path goes through cottonwoods and leads to two different viewpoints of the Columbia River.
People had been parking in the adjacent FedEx lot, but as of this writing in 2022 FedEx says they are restricting parking there to its employees. An alternative parking spot is at 45.550398, -122.388633 and then walking 0.5 miles along the bicycle/pedestrian path and then turning right onto the dirt path.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
This area has many of the same birds as the Sandy River Delta including nesting Red-eyed Vireos. It is more wooded and has less open spaces but has good views of the Columbia River. This is probably the place in Multnomah one is most likely to find all 5 local woodpeckers (Pileated, Hairy, Downy, Red-breasted Sapsucker and Northern Flicker) in one outing. In fall there are usually good mud flats in the river and 17 different shorebird species have been found. In winter the river can have lots of gulls; Common, Pacific and Red-throated loons are uncommon but have been seen. Western and Horned Grebes are common; Eared, Clark’s and Red-necked have all been found here.
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