Sandy Gorge Rafting
At Sandy River Gorge, six miles of untamed river with upland terraces and canyons provide excellent habitat for native fish, wildlife and an old-growth forest, all within 20 miles of Oregon's largest urban area. Long before the Cascade Range existed, the ancestral Sandy River began carving its meandering course.Â
As the Cascades rose, the stream cut through twenty million years of northwest Oregon geology, carving a 700-foot-deep gorge that exposes a cross-section of seven major geologic formations. The Sandy River's cold waters originate in the snowfields of Mt. Hood. The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
Up to 4,000 feet (1300 m) deep, the canyon stretches for over 80 miles (130 km) as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range forming the boundary between the State of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south. The Sandy Gorge American Viticultural Area is located in both states.
Extending roughly from the confluence of the Columbia with the Deschutes River down to eastern reaches of the Portland metropolitan area, the gorge furnishes the only navigable route through the Cascades. In 1805, the route was used by the Lewis and Clark expedition to reach the Pacific Ocean.