Community Lake Park to Portland Dam

Trip Overview

This was our first time kayaking in Portland. We have inflatable kayaks for easy transport. Putting in at Community Lake Park was easy. There was a pretty steep bank when we put in, but the river seemed pretty low. Fairly rocky put in area. The route is shaded so there were quite a few bugs. We would recommend using bug spray for this put in location. There were a lot of shallow areas where we had to get up and drag our kayaks to continue on. Right before the Looking Glass flows into the Grand River, there is a large downed tree that got in the way. It was resting on either side of the river in a very deep spot so you cannot stand to walk it over. It took some maneuvering. Once on the Grand, there were no shallow area issues. Very deep and has a lot of great scenic views. During our trip, we saw a lot of wild life. We got within a few feet of a deer in the river before it noticed us and took off in the other direction. We saw a lot of other deer, turtles, large birds, and jumping fish throughout the trip. I would not recommend putting in at Community Lake Park or traveling on the Looking Glass for this leg of the trip due to the shallow areas and obstacles. It may have been the time of year where the river was shallow.