Columbia River References

The following are available through the Oregon State Marine Board, 435 Commercial Street NE, Salem, OR 97310. The mail-order prices are listed with the publications, but all are available free at many local marine stores.
Boating Guide to the Lower Columbia & Willamette Rivers ($1/copy): A fine 30-some page guide to the Columbia for its lower 140 miles, from the ocean to Bonneville Dam, plus the Willamette up to Oregon City. Has points of interest to recreational boaters, history and some piloting and fishing advice. Well worth a buck.
Boating in Oregon Coastal Waters (free): An overview of what can be expected on the bars of Oregon's rivers and bays. To be used in addition to, not instead of, the Coast Pilot.
Oregon Boating Facilities Guide (free): Oriented to trailer boaters - a guide to ramps, moorage & fishing all over Oregon.

The lower Columbia and Willamette:: NOS# 18521, 18523, 18524, 18526, 18531
Mid-Columbia: NOS# 18533, 18535, 18536, 18537, 18539, 18541, 18542
Roosevelt Lake: NOS# 18551, 18553
Evergreen Pacific River Cruising Atlas: Columbia, Snake, Willamette: An 11x17" spiral-bound set of charts for the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers. These are same-scale copies of the NOS charts and are handy and less expensive. I find them less clear to use because each chart is broken into several pages. ISBN 0-945265-12-3

US Coast Pilot #7: Detailed information on the river. Most of the facilities information is for commercial traffic.
Tide Tables: The tides reverse or slow the current on the lower Columbia.
Topgraphical Maps: This may seem odd for boating, but the nautical charts end just as many of the sloughs get interesting. USGS maps are great.
Book: Cruising the Columbia and Snake Rivers: by Sharlene P. & Ted W. Nelson and Joan LeMieux
Published by Globe Pequot Press (0931397049)
(170 page soft cover) A good overview of the rivers from Lewiston-Clarkston to the ocean. Only downside for me was that it had some glowing descriptions of some pretty seedy places.