Deschutes River

This past weekend I went to Deschutes River State Park. The park is located about 15 miles away from The Dalles just off the highway. It is a small park centered around the mouth of The Deschutes. Popular primarily as a fishing spot, I believe. The park itself only has one trail, so I went there expecting not to hike too much. But the mountain-biking trail that starts in the park is an old railroad grade that runs parallel to the river for I'm not sure how far. I ended up hiking up five miles of it before turning around.

One of the amazing things about the Gorge is how rapidly the ecosystem completely changes. Thirty five miles up the road is Hood River, where the towering Douglas Firs begin, and here you are in high desert. The largest plants growing away from the river being the sweet-smelling sagebrush that lined the trail.

After hiking five miles in, I decided to climb up the side of the canyon. It was very steep and taller than it appeared, but I made it up eventually. On top, there were agricultural fields on both sides, taking advantage of the flatter areas between these canyons.

This is a view of the river from part of the way up.

On my way up I also spotted a herd of deer. I followed them from the ridgeline for a while until I was able to get a good picture. There must have been 15 or so of them. It was pretty cool.


It's a very pretty area. On my way out I passed a lot of folks coming in with packs. I think I'm going to have to go back and camp there sometime this summer.