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NaturistDoc
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 Posted - 09/17/2014 : 3:03:17 PM
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After nearly three years living in Oregon, I finally paid a visit to Collins Beach. I was astonished. Here was a clean, safe, legal C/O beach an easy 25 mile drive from downtown Portland. You'd think it would be overrun on a fine Sunday afternoon, but the beach is quite large, and there was plenty of room on the beach and in the adjacent parking areas. Instead of the Pacific, the beach overlooks the Columbia River. The river channel is about half a mile wide, and beachgoers get a fairly close-up view of the enormous container ships going to and from the Port of Portland. The river water wasn't exactly warm (66 #8457;) but that's about 10 degrees warmer than the Pacific at the same latitude, and there were quite a few people on pool floats in the water. As you wade in, the river bed goes from sand to mud pretty quickly, a minor disappointment. Collins Beach is within the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area, and you'll need a parking permit ($7).
The beach, or at least its northern half, is designated Clothing Optional, and there are people there in all degrees of undress. I didn't bother attempting a statistical analysis of Who Was Wearing What because (1) I didn't much care and 2) neither did anyone else on the beach. By tradition, the northernmost portion of the beach skews toward gay and lesbian visitors, but the boundaries are cheerfully ignored. Other than Porta-Potties by the parking lots, there are no facilities on the beach, so schlep your own food and drink.
The overall atmosphere was generally quiet, friendly, and respectful. Visitors ranged in age from toddlers to geezers, with an average that struck me as a decade or so younger than you'd find at your typical resort. Most of the people on the beach seemed to be in couples, groups, or families. I didn't see a lot of cruising or gawking going on. Some regulars told me that the Columbia County Sheriff's Dept. keeps an unobtrusive eye on the beach, and that unpleasant events are uncommon and quickly dealt with.
If you're visiting Portland in July, August, or September - when Portland is actually drier than the US average - I can't imagine a good reason NOT to visit Collins Beach.
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FireProf
Forum Member
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 Posted - 09/25/2014 : 09:33:23 AM
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We've had the pleasure of visiting Collins Beach many times. Our close friends live about 45 mins away. I agree completely with your trip report and we were pleasantly surprised to see so many younger people enjoying the beach. What we've noticed is that many of these young people start out in bathing suits and by mid day, they've gone from suited to topless to completely nude. I think it's a great place for them to experience a nude beach for the first time but the community and acceptance of those with bathing suits or clothed, mingling with, visiting with the nudists and nude sunbathers is really nice to see.
I don't think we've ever visited our friends in WA when we didn't visit Collins Beach. It's just become one of those things on the list of "must do" while visiting the PNW. We really enjoy the diverse crowd and find that the gay/lesbian section is quite different than the similar section of our once nude beach. If there was or has been any illicit activity going on ... we didn't see it. It wasn't out in the open, as it was at our beach.
Hopefully ... one of these times up there, we'll be able to meet at Collins.
Loves being naked. Plays well with others!
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Edited by - FireProf on 09/25/2014 09:35:23 AM |
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Collins Beach, Oregon
