Bend, OR

If you like to go off the beaten path, as I do, there is a whole different world, the ones most of us pass by, sometimes by only hundreds of feet. The Little Deschutes is one of those. A very quiet and serene, yet small sinuous river that winds 50 miles from Mt. Thielsen Wilderness in Klamath County, through Winema National Forest and ends approximately 10 miles past LaPine, ending in Sun River, spilling into the Big Deschutes River.

This gem of a river is full of riparian habitat, elk, deer and several varieties of birds. It is not unusual to kayak down this river and see herds of elk crossing the river, grazing the fields or just basking in the sun as you paddle by. The Little Deschutes is also home to a local photographer, Cara Tapkens’ 1^st place prize winning photograph of our Nation’s bird, The American Eagle.

A word of advice for kayakers…plan your intentional route as a short distance in the river can actually be several hours long. From 6^th street in LaPine to Burgess is 5-6 hours and from Burgess to State Rec Rd is 10 hours. Very deceiving times despite the short distance and there are many areas along the way in which one can pull out. Considering this is the wild outdoors, there are no bathroom facilities other than the outdoors and my suggestion would be not to take younger children or those who may have a physical disability.

There is also lodging on the Little Deschutes, towards the end of its’ stream in SunRiver that hosts 500’ of river frontage where one can fish right from the back door. For more information and reservations go to their website http://www.sunriver-direct.com/kcundiff/

If you want the serenity and the exceptional outdoors and wildlife that is virtually untouched, this little piece of heaven will do you just fine.

Please let us know what you think! Did you like this post? Do you know of other great areas to Kayak in and around Central Oregon? We’d love to hear from you, just add your comment below.