Sammamish Slough

Trip Overview

This is a great river for canoe or kayak, all flat with a modest (less than 1 knot) current except for a single class 1 rapid just below the bridges in Woodinville, on the far left side. This rapid is quite do-able for beginners, but it can also be easily portaged on the right side if you're concerned, or if the water level is too low. There is also a shallow spot about 50 yards below the rapid where you may have to drag your boat over the gravel for a few yards in low water conditions. The current decreases after this, then pretty much disappears from Bothell Landing on as the river reaches the level of Lake Washington. From the put-in in Redmond it is 6.25 mi. to Wilmot Gateway Park, 50 yards before the first bridge in Woodinville, where you can find an extremely tiny patch of sand on the right bank, just big enough for one canoe or two kayaks to pull up. There are restrooms and picnic tables here. You can also climb out at Bothell Landing Park, but there's no good landing spot and you're likely to have to climb through a few bushes. We've done it, though, on other trips. More restrooms and picnic tables. You have a choice of two good pull-outs. Kenmore Boat Launch at 11.5 mi. is the best, next to the bridge in Kenmore, Discover Pass required if you're parking a car here. They also have a pit toilet, open and supplied with TP during our trip in October during the pandemic. Or you can paddle another mile to Log Boom Park, where you can pull out at the sandy beach. Parking is free but you have a carry of 150 yards. There are restrooms here as well. Our trip was in late October so there was some color, but this is Washington so it's no match for New England. Sammamish Slough starts at the outlet from Lake Sammamish, but don't start there (see safety note). The lake level does fluctuate a bit, so we went to https://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/uv/?site_no=12122000&PARAmeter_cd=62614,62615,00065,00062 where you can see the current lake level and also past levels. The lake was at 26.5 feet for our trip, which we found pretty much perfect. It provided us with a current of just under 1 kt for the first 2/3 of the trip, and the run through the one rapid was a little exciting but not at all scary, with enough water to get through the shallow spot below the rapid. There are long stretches of the river where you only see nature, and a good selection of bird life. On a prior trip we were accompanied for a while by a family of 4 river otters, but they were on vacation this time. We also had a light tail wind -- you might want to put off your trip when there's strong wind out of the north since so much of the river has you paddling in that direction. Since this is a 1-way trip, you can spot cars or you can do as we did and spot a bicycle at the pull-out. We chose Log Boom Park for this, as it felt safe since it is in a well-trafficked area, and the bike was locked to a hefty bike rack. It's 11 miles by bike back to the car at the put-in, since the bike trail cuts off a few bends in the river. If your bike has pedals that require cleats, don't forget to bring them in your boat, and don't forget your car keys before leaving on your bike to retrieve it (we passed both these memory tests, thankfully).