“Deschutes River in Autumn”

The Cascades of Benham Falls enliven Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes River Trail

Central Oregon’s beautiful Deschutes is wondrous year round but is absolutely resplendent in autumn.  Willows and Red Osier Dogwoods decorate riparian areas with splashes of crimson and gold along Bend, Oregon’s iconic  River Trail, located just a few miles upstream of Bend’s iconic Mirror Pond and Drake Park. This flowy fine art print of the Deschutes was captured just above Benham Falls, a series of gorgeous cascades located on the river trail.  The Deschutes was initially named, Riviére des Chutes because of a set of falls on the Columbia River, known as Celilo Falls which were located near where the Deschutes flows into the Columbia River.

At over 250 miles long, the Deschutes has many different personalities. It starts as a mere trickle at its headwaters in Little Lave Lake where it briefly flows south along Oregon’s famed Cascade Lakes Scenic Bywaybefore diverting to the north, through the city of Bend. The Upper Deschutes is technically the section from Little Lava Lake to the city of Bend, which includes the section where this fine art landscape photograph was captured. The river has impressive cascades at Benham Falls as well as Dillon Falls as well as beautiful groves of aspen trees in between Benham and Dillon.

The Middle Deschutes  is the section of river between the city of Bend and Lake Billy Chinook which was created by the round butte dam which impedes the Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked Rivers. While the Middle Deschutes is an attractive  and wild section of river, water diversion for agriculture makes summer water levels dangerously low.

Wildflowers bloom in the Lower Deschutes River Canyon with Mt Hood in the distance.

The Lower Deschutes, located between Lake Billy Chinook and the Columbia is a big rugged western river famed for its rugged terrain as well as its Steelhead fisheries.

The fine art prints of this beautiful image have wonderful flow patters and exceptional detail. It is almost as if you can hear the roar of Benham Falls while you look at the print! I’m especially fond of the Heart-shaped flow pattern in the lower left hand corner of the image.