There’s Plenty of Room to Play on Lake Billy Chinook, So Go Big With a Party Barge

The floating pads range from more modest arrangements to luxury accommodations that include hot tubs and an open-air wet bar.

(Bonnie Moreland / Flickr)
By WW Contributor

By Nicole Vulcan

The main attraction at the Cove Palisades State Park (7300 SW Jordan Road, Culver, 800-551-6949, oregonstateparks.org) is Lake Billy Chinook, the deep and massive reservoir formed by the Round Butte Dam near the confluence of the Crooked, Deschutes and Metolius Rivers. As the immense parking lots at multiple water access points illustrate, this is a popular destination for boaters, especially during the summer. Still, the folks at Cove Palisades Resort and Marina (Southwest Marina Drive, Culver, 541-546-9999, covepalisadesresort.com), who offer a variety of water vessels to rent, say the lake is big enough to give plenty of people room to play. The next-level way to do so is by booking a stay in a houseboat for you and your crew. Rented in three-day-minimum stints, the floating pads range from more modest RV-style arrangements to luxury accommodations that include hot tubs, an open-air wet bar and a second-story slide. When your road trip offers plenty of time for pit stops that go big, this is perhaps the biggest of them all.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.