Viento State Park, Oregon

Site Information

• Site Coordinator: Fred Noble, noblecmh@aol.com
• Location: Oregon, I-84 Viento exit
• Property Owner/Managing Agency: Oregon State Parks
• Other Details: See Columbia Gorge Recreation Coalition web site for GRC Proposals for Viento.

Oregon State Parks Day-Use Fees

Rooster Rock, Viento, Rowena (East Mayer)

• Day: $3
• Season: $25 (or $40 for 2 years)

The season passes are available from CGWA. Cost is $25 for 1 year for 1st vehicle and $5 for 2nd vehicle; or $40 for 2 years for 1st vehicle and $10 for 2nd vehicle. Contact the CGWA to get an Oregon State Parks pass, or include the amount when you renew your CGWA membership. Include your vehicle license plate number and state of issue. This pass is good for day use at all State Parks in Oregon.

March 24, 2004 – the Oregon State Parks & Federal Forest passes are no longer mutually honored in the Gorge due to the new Oregon/Washington Universal Pass.

< See Parking Passes and Parking Information for more information on other sites requiring passes. >

Ideas needed for Improvements

November 2004- Oregon State Parks promised $1,000 for improvements, repairs, maintenance at Viento (or another OR park) for CGWA gaining 100 new members in 2002. Do you have ideas on what should be done? We can offer the volunteers to help with a project. $1,000 doesn’t go a very long way, but with volunteers it may.

Work Party

May 18, 2002- Beach cleanup, trim back the blackberry bushes. Oregon State Parks provided the tools.

Recent Improvements and Master Plan

Please check the Columbia Gorge Recreation Coalition web site for complete details of recent site improvements, upcoming projects, and master plan information.

Improvements

June 2000- Summary of work party from Fred Noble

Thanks to the following members and friends for participating in the Viento work party Saturday, June 17, 2000:

Brian Johnston, Tom and Ruth Kosmolski, Jim Haynes, Dan Lautenbach, Roger Meier, Chuck Lewis, CB Schmaltz, Niel Lofgren, Don Stephens, Ken Maddox, Robert Ehelebe, Nikki Spencer, Kathleen Dehen, John Martin, Claire Griffin, Marlowe Griffin, Patrick Quigley

I would also like to thank all the people that e-mailed me with their regrets that they could not attend. It is encouraging that we have your support and more encouraging that some of you live in another part of the country and even though you may only come out here for a week or two you still pay your dues and give us your support. Please know that all of you have been instrumental in keeping our sailing sites open. I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of our members for the first time, Brian Johnston from Vancouver BC and Nikki Spencer from Farmington Hills, Michigan.

You have to ask yourself, "Am I willing to give up a portion of my vacation time to sweat it out at a work party?". Well these folks did and I would like to personally thank them and hope that some of the local people who have never attended a work party will look around and appreciate what hundreds of other individuals have done throughout the years. The Hood River Coffee Company donated the coffee and CGWA provided the doughnuts.

Improvements

September 1999 - A huge work party was held on September 25, 1999. According to Fred Noble, "this will be one of the biggest jobs ever and we need all our members within driving distance to come in and lend a hand. Bring chain saw, brush cutters, gloves, shovels, rakes, pitchforks, weed eaters, pruners."

After the work party, workers attended "Volunteer Appreciation Day" at Rooster Rock State Park. They had a Barbecue & Picnic Lunch (B.B.Q. Chicken, Hamburgers, Garden Burgers).

Click on photos to see a larger view.

Kevin Price (left, Oregon Parks) and Fred Noble (right, CGWA) planning the day. Noble house is in the background.	Some of the volunteers that helped out	Access trail clearing
Beach clean up	Beach clean up	A chain saw can be hard work. But it's even more difficult when you are witnessing primo sailing conditions.
Brush clearing	Hauling the brush away

Improvements

August 5, 1999- CGWA's special member, Fred Noble (thanks, Fred) herded 23 Scouts and 4 counselors (they came from Hillsboro, OR) to clear an adjacent path to the river. They put in about 2 1/2 hours work in return for getting free windsurfing lessons. Clif Bar donated snacks.

Parking Lot Project

Fred Noble has been working with Oregon State Parks to improve access at Viento. State Parks has run out of funds and they require more grindings to finish the parking lot. Fred is looking into alternate sources of funding. We can get the grindings for free, but we need to hire someone to haul them from Parkdale to Viento.