While we did have to adjust some of our plans due to heavy wildfire smoke on our recent vacation to Sunriver, Oregon, towards the end of our week there the winds shifted and the smoke cleared out. We took advantage of a beautiful sunny day to hike along the Deschutes River in Central Oregon.

While most people think of lush, green Douglas fir forests and fertile valleys when they think of Oregon, that only describes a portion of the western part of the state. Central Oregon lies to the east of the Cascade mountain range, where the drier climate hosts pine forests and sagebrush plains. The landscape is defined by sometimes very dramatic volcanic features, including massive ancient lava flows, cinder cones and craters, with clear, rushing rivers and lakes winding among them. The Deschutes, with its headwaters in the Cascades, runs south to north, eventually spilling into the mighty Columbia River. It’s popular with fisherfolk and water sports enthusiasts, boasting stretches of calm waters and roaring whitewater rapids. We saw some of both on our short hike that ranged along a portion of the designated Wild and Scenic stretch of the river.

The Deschutes River Trail system features miles of trails winding along the river, some wide and paved but most well-maintained but rocky in places with multiple changes in elevation (and this high-desert landscape lies at 3,000–4,000 feet in elevation, for the most part). We chose to start our hike at the Benham Falls East Day Use Trailhead, where we found a good-sized parking lot, some vault toilets and interpretive signs sharing information about the history of the area, its geology and wildlife. We placed our day passes ($5) on the dashboards of our cars, slathered ourselves in mosquito repellent (an absolute necessity, as the little biters were thick and eager close to the water) and headed out on the trail.

We had my 7- and 10-year-old grandsons and 4-year-old granddaughter along, so we wanted a hike that would let them expend some of their seemingly boundless energy without overtaxing them for the return to the car. We probably traveled a little over 2 miles roundtrip, with long stretches of fairly level ground but the option for plenty of ups and downs as we could choose to hike down closer to the water at times or climb up for higher viewpoints over the river. We started out alongside a fairly placid stretch of the river, with the rugged black mounds of the Lava Butte Lava Flow visible beyond the water. This lava flow spilled from the side of a cinder cone about 7,000 years ago, spreading out over 5 miles and briefly damming the river and creating a large lake. Eventually the river broke through and drained the lake, creating what came to be known as Benham Falls.

After the boys spent some time throwing rocks into the still water (because isn’t that what kids always do?) we continued to head down the trail in the direction of the sound of rushing water. It was a very warm day, so we were thankful for shade provided by the tall pines along many parts of the trail.   Soon enough the river began to drop as it flowed between rocky cliffs topped by tall pines, with the trail rising and falling    to give us different perspectives.   Here, this view across the canyon to an immense fallen Ponderosa pine gives a sense of scale of the river and its cliffs.   The force of the raging water proved mesmerizing and awe-inspiring . . . and made us vigilant to keep the kids well back from the edge.

The beautiful views of the canyon  and the rushing waters kept beckoning us on further, but at last we made our way to a lookout high above the river, affording us a look back up to the rapids. Reluctant to leave the excitement of those turbulent waters, we knew if we didn’t want to deal with complaining, tired kiddos, it was time to turn back. After a water and snack break and a final shot of the river,    we headed back upriver, with the sounds and images of the water staying with us long after we returned to the trailhead.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor