It’s been out of the water for more than two months, but the Wheatland Ferry comes back into service Friday.
The ferry crosses the Willamette River north of Willamette Mission State Park, connecting Marion and Yamhill counties. It’s been out of service since June 8 for a required five-year U.S. Coast Guard inspection and maintenance period.
“During this maintenance period, we’ve done a lot of important work on the ferry, including installing new watertight deck hatches and replacing the drive propellers, among other improvements,” said Brian Nicholas, Marion County’s public works director, in an email. “Two weeks ago, the river level finally dropped to something close to normal summer levels, which means we were finally able to get into the water to dredge the river. Dredging extended the ferry outage an extra week, but we couldn’t get in with our equipment until the river was low enough.”
Nicholas said the ferry is back in the water Tuesday, and new guidewires and rigging will be installed Wednesday. A final Coast Guard inspection is scheduled for Thursday, and service is scheduled to resume Friday.
More information about the Wheatland Ferry schedule and fees is available on the county website.
The county’s other ferry, Buena Vista, is scheduled for its five-year maintenance and inspection in 2026, Nicholas said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
