TUALATIN RIVER - Brian Wegener and John Frewing agree that paddling a canoe on the Tualatin River allows them a freedom they can't find while standing on shore.

"Oh, it's great fun on the river," Wegener told KATU as he carried his canoe down the boat ramp at Cook Park in Tigard. "It's quiet and you can hear and see the sights and sounds of nature."

The Tualatin River is born high in the Oregon Coast Range mountains where it pours out of a cleft in ancient basalt rocks formations. But as the river moves down and across the broad Tualatin Valley floor, it slows to a crawl.

The river runs nearly a hundred miles through the heart of fast-growing Washington County.

It's long been a playground for people to swim or paddle, according to John Frewing. "It's certainly been used for generations, people even navigated on it in sternwheelers way back when. Also - the stream is down 20 feet or more from its steep banks that are often covered with blackberries. So, that's really isolated the river from the rest of the community."

Wegener adds that the "isolation" hides fall colors that are unmatched and best observed from a canoe.

"The ash trees that line the banks of the river turn yellow; if you get it at the right time, they just carpet the whole river with yellow leaves all over; a real special time of year to be on the river."

Not “on the river,” but ashore at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Wegener likes to stop in and gaze across more than a thousand acres of protected landscape near Sherwood.

”They did a tremendous job not only of providing great wildlife habitat and bird habitat, but providing access for people to come and see the wildlife and not disturb the birds.”

Wegener’s group, the Tualatin Riverkeepers, has published a guidebook with maps and directions so that you can get to know the watershed.

There are 80 different sites profiled in the book where you can see wildlife.  Some are big, spectacular places like the Tualatin River Refuge, but many others are little spots that you can walk to from your home and are right there in your neighborhood.

Wegener invites everyone to explore the Tualatin River – mile by mile – because it’s important to learn about its beauty, its adventure and how to get involved to protect the river that runs through the heart of Washington County.

The Tualatin Riverkeepers sponsor monthly paddling tours of the river. For information on the tours and the refuge, check out the following links:

• Tualatin Riverkeepers
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Web site