One of the small boat landings that I visited recently in Sunriver was Harper Bridge. Located on the Big Deschutes River nearly 2 miles from Sunriver on your way to Mt. Bachelor, there is a primitive launch on one side of the bridge and a slightly larger one on the other side for small trailers. There is a sign that says this boat landing is provided for those with a 97707 (Sunriver) zipcode only. Parking is limited, but no forest pass is required.
I learned that this is a great place to begin a float trip that you can take in your canoe/kayak/inner-tube/water-board (or whatever you have). You can take out at the Sunriver Marina, over by the airport. That trip takes around 1.5 hours. There is a YouTube video at the bottom of this post showing the route via airplane.
Or, you can keep going and take out at the boat landing at Benham Falls. There is alternative site in Sunriver not far from Benham Falls which I wrote about the the other day. "Just Click Here" to see more about that. That trip is 10 miles long and takes around 3 hours to complete from Harper Bridge.
I took these pictures a few weeks ago, when was a controlled burn going on across the river from the boat launch.
Mt. Bachelor still has a bit of snow on it.
To learn more about floating the Big Deschutes, here is a comprehensive 56-page report, "Deschutes River Guide".
Here is the video, it is short and sweet, and shows you how very windy the river is in this area:
To find out more about fishing in this area, exactly how to get there and some alternative boat landings in the surrounding area, just "CLICK HERE".
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5 comments:
Great pictures. The video says Spring River fed by 13 year old mountain snow - is the snow 13 years old before it melts and runs into the river?
Looks like a lazy relaxed float trip, which can be a GREAT way to spend a summer afternoon. I was once licensed on the Salmon River in Idaho, so I always think whitewater is more fun, but that requires more constant attention. A lazy river is a great way to just hang out with friends.
Didn't know you were a river-lover, Kathy! Me, too; I live near the Androscoggin now, but spent years up on the Kennebec -- both just lovely rivers. There's something soothing about that moving water!
Great shots - I did recognize a couple that you posted before. When I was a kid we lived right on the Concord River in Massachusetts. We loved it. :)
What a lovely river! We used to love to go tubing down the Chattahoochee River... along with several hundred of our closest friends. It was like one great big lazy laid-back party on the water. Only drawback was my fair skin. I always burned like a son of a gun.
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