Deschutes River Trail from Farewell Bend Park

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A Bit Wilder Side of Bend

The Deschutes River Trail sections cover several miles. This one is easy access but feels more like a hike than what you get in the downtown section.

Head south from Farewell Bend Park. While you can take a nice stroll through this park , I suggest heading for the dirt trail from the southwest end of the park that takes you upstream to a footbridge, where you can cross and return on the other side for a nice three mile loop. The trail slips through mainly ponderosa forest, but interpretive signs help with some of the other vegetation. Some of our wildlife sightings included common mergansers, Townsend's solitares, robins, bushtits (including a nest), ravens, a black phoebe and American dippers. We can also provide two eyewitness accounts to verify that there are fish in the river. First, we watched an osprey dive from its tree perch, splash into the water, and arise with a small fish in its talon. Then, as we were standing on the footbridge, we watched a river otter haul its catch onto a rock and munch away.

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