Eighteenmile Island, River island in Wasco County, Oregon.
Eighteenmile Island is a river island in the Columbia River, located between the towns of Mosier and Hood River in Wasco County, Oregon. The island is covered with pine and willow trees growing over basalt rock formations, and a sandy beach runs along one side.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition noted this island during their journey across the continent in the early 1800s. Decades later, a man named Charles Reither, known locally as Chicken Charlie, made the island his home from 1915 to 1963.
Eighteenmile Island is one of the few spots along the Columbia River that remains privately owned and inhabited today. The single house on the island gives it a character unlike anything else along this stretch of river, where most land is public or undeveloped.
The island can only be reached by boat, as there is no bridge or public ferry connecting it to the shore. The property is privately owned and has a resident, so visitors should not attempt to land without permission.
The house on the island was built in the late 1960s and gets its electricity from a line running from the mainland, while drinking water comes from filtering the river directly. This makes it one of the very few permanently inhabited river islands in Oregon.
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