Downtown Portland's New Swim Beaches And Piers Turn The Entire City Into A Fun Summer Swimming Hole

From cafes where you can order the best coffee in all of America to craft breweries, Portland, Oregon has a little bit of everything. And, this summer, the City of Roses will officially become your next favorite beach town. Now, a trip to Cannon Beach isn't off the table, but Portland's Willamette River beaches and piers offer a convenient way to cool off in the water without a lengthy drive or packing list. Plus, they're free.

Now, you'd be forgiven for thinking twice before hopping into the Willamette, but the times are changing. Thanks to the efforts of the Human Access Project, including its work with the Big Pipe Project, the bacteria levels in the Willamette are almost always at a healthy level for swimmers. Between late May and September, the city tests the water at five high-traffic sites every Wednesday and posts the results on Friday, so you can plan accordingly. You can also sign up for weekly water-quality emails here. 

Although hidden just outside Portland is a family-friendly Oregon lake with a sandy swim beach and scenic backdrop, the city's best swimming spots will more than satisfy. Head to fan-favorite Poet's Beach under the Marquam Bridge for soft sand and easy access to the water, or laze in an inner tube at Duckworth Dock. Portland isn't the most dangerous spot to swim in the world, but you should always be mindful of currents, boats, algae adversaries, and your own capabilities. 

Now, if you're looking for a scenic spot with family-friendly amenities and water suitable for beginner swimmers, Cathedral Park Beach and Dock is your best bet. Set beneath the historic St. Johns Bridge, Cathedral Park built a new swimming dock that opened in June 2024. Creating a sheltered cove, this dock comes with swim ladders for easy entry and exit from the water and replaces a wooden fishing dock. The Cathedral Park Boat Launch is also one of the five weekly water testing sites. 

The park offers a sandy beach with enough space for multiple families or groups of friends to set up camp for the day. Visitors can also access the bathrooms, picnic tables, boat dock, and grassy areas. There is an off-leash area for dogs, but owners are reminded to clean up after their pets and dispose of waste in the proper receptacles. 

Although the park is next to the Portland Harbor Superfund site, founder and director of the Human Access Project, Willie Levenson, shared with Portland Monthly, 'There's a lot of misunderstanding around the Superfund site in terms of what you can and can't do." According to the Oregon Health Authority, eating fish that live in the Lower Willamette River (not migratory fish) is unadvisable due to high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), but swimming or wading in the water at Cathedral Park is a safe activity.