Wapato Access is a 170-acre, day-use park along Virginia Lake on the western edge of Sauvie Island. There are two ways to access the park's 2-mile trail around the lake: from the parking lot along Sauvie Island Rd, or by boat from Hadley's Landing on the Multnomah Channel.
The park features abundant wildlife and birds. A riverside forest grows along the Multnomah Channel and is home to Pacific wrens and red-breasted sapsuckers. Many wetland plants grow around and in Virginia Lake, where you might hear a marsh wren and common yellowthroat. Buffleheads, mallards, and wood ducks are common visitors to the lake.
A picnic shelter and tables is about a quarter-mile from the parking lot. Stop at the viewing platform and bird blind for a closer look at the lake, or walk down to Hadley’s Landing and listen for belted kingfishers and osprey fishing from Multnomah Channel. The moorage is 3.7 miles below the confluence with the Willamette River.
Wapato Access is part of the Willamette River Greenway system of parks and conservation areas managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. These areas were established in 1960s-1970s to protect and preserve the natural, scenic, historic and recreational qualities of lands along the Willamette River. Totaling nearly 5,000 acres on 90 parcels of land, these properties continue to offer places to recreate and enjoy nature near many communities in the Willamette Valley.