# Deschutes Maupin Run Beta



## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

jsandefu said:


> Hey, new to the area and looking for any beta, book recommendations, trip info etc on the Maupin run in a raft (oar rigged), or any other nearby runs on the Rogue, Deschutes, etc.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> PM me, email me at [email protected]


Soggy sneakers. 

The section from harpham flats to sandy beach takeout is usually paddled. You can easily get a permit for the Section from warm springs to maupin. It's usually done with one or two overnights

Also look into Clackamas from the power station to memaloose or the white Salmon from BZ to Husum (almost never run with oars on a raft)


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## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

*Must Luv Lava*

Maupin stretch is about 9-10 miles in a relatively dry BLM grassy rocky Canyon. Make that rocky grassy canyon.

Summers are HOT.

This is a party run. Troops from Portland show and rent a beer.
Can be thick in season.

Three class III to IV's that are good learners.
Basically down the tongue and one drop, Good recovery options.

Can do it 2 or 3 times in a day f you've got support shuttles and have some fun and let newbees have oar time. Support crew rotates in after cooking burgers at the Park. Discipline is hard to maintain at times.

The Deschutes River Stretches before Maupin and then after Maupin (Below Shears Falls) are somewhat plain for scenery. A fairly large canyon but not spectacular. Can be thick with fishermen who may not like your raft track. There is some sort of no fishing from boats rule down low.

Rafting in Bend is by inner tube or some other fun method. Popular.

Deschutes River just south of Bend is a contractors paddle rafter convention.

Deschutes River just below Wickiup Res is a gentle canoe friendly stretch outside of Pringle Falls in the middle. There is some beauty here as the river flows gently through a Ponderosa Forest with plenty of horseshoes. Rafters do go there for a no stress relaxing day trip. Take Mom.

Lakes above, (Upper Deschutes), are populated with 6-pak mandatory metal boats w/motors and opinions. Obama stickers should be on a rotating placard.

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Roads near Bend can be nasty with bike races.


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## fishdude (Jun 8, 2012)

BilloutWest said:


> Maupin stretch is about 9-10 miles in a relatively dry BLM grassy rocky Canyon. Make that rocky grassy canyon.
> 
> Summers are HOT.
> 
> ...


There is no fishing from boats on the river for the 100 miles from the dam to the Columbia. I'm a fishing guide and have never had any problems with rafters or kayakers, don't row over the water they're fishing and everything is cool.


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

Prior to floating south of bend, don't forget to watch "Up the Creek". Quality 80's flick, shot on location (most of it). I learned and subsequetnly quit Kayaking in the Big eddy area (near Inn at the 7th, south of bend). I'd like to go back and float that stretch again, I thought it was fun, but it's been 20 years.​ 
My first white water trip in my first raft was the Maupin section with the beer rental crew from P-town. It was fun and a horribly inadequate initiation to "class IV" rapids.​


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## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

*There is some serious fire risk locally so they have rules*



> Fire Closures in Effect June 1 on the Lower Deschutes River: The fire closure prohibits building, igniting, maintaining, attending or being within 20 feet of a campfire, charcoal fire or any other type of open flame, including wood pellet burning devices. Smoking is only allowed in closed vehicles, in boats on the water or while standing in the water. The closure is in effect for the Lower Deschutes Wild and Scenic River Corridor, which extends from Pelton Dam to the Columbia River. Please plan to use white gas or propane stoves for cooking while floating or traveling along this segment of the Deschutes. The closure also includes the White River from it's confluence with the Deschutes to the boundary of the Mt. Hood National Forest.


Boater Pass information

River Trails Deschutes: BLM Boaters Pass Instructions, Deschutes River, Maupin, Oregon

Oak Springs Rapid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tGUUufXB3E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckJoebkY2bc


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## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

here's my friend after too many beers. same spot in oak springs, about the spot in the video above where you see the bottom of their boat. he says its cause his oar popped out and he couldn't nose his boat down. Likely story. Use caution whenever taking laterals


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## OregonRafter (Jan 30, 2013)

jsandefu said:


> Hey, new to the area and looking for any beta, book recommendations, trip info etc on the Maupin run in a raft (oar rigged), or any other nearby runs on the Rogue, Deschutes, etc.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> PM me, email me at [email protected]


I second the book Soggy Sneakers. 

Also, the BLM has river maps, descriptions, and info from Warm Springs all the way down to Heritage Landing at the mouth. You can also purchase your permits there.
Check out www.boaterpass.com and click on "The River". Permits are easy to get for it. The Deschutes day run through Maupin is a zoo on summer and holiday weekends. Tons of people with coolers full of beer cruising down the river in rental rafts. Best to be done on weekdays in the summer. It's a very forgiving river, and Oak Springs is an easy class 4, if you even want to call it that. The entire lower Deschutes is pretty much pool and drop class 3. You can comfortably row any of that stretch. Most of the camping sections on the lower Deschutes share the canyon with a train line that you will hear 2-3 times a night. With good weather and consistent summer flows it is the most popular run in the state. 

The BLM also has a guide and maps for the Rogue. http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/rogue/files/FloatGuide04.pdf
You just missed out on the permit application deadline (January) for the summer floating season of the wilderness run. But cancelation permits, especially for smaller groups are very easy to come by. 

By far the best guidebook for the Rogue (& MFS) is by Matt Leidecker The Rogue River - A Comprehensive Guide from Prospect to Gold Beach 
This book contains excellent descriptions of routes at differing water levels, pictures, diagrams, photo spots, hikes, geology, history, must do's, etc. 

Even though we don't have a true "town run", Bend is a great home base for rafting in the state. The closest thing to that is the "Big Eddy" just out of town from Aspen to Lava Island. I've been down it countless times in a paddle raft and a handful of times rowing it. At only 2.5 miles it's so short that I really only do it anymore if I have family/friends in town that only want to invest part of the day rafting. The downside is the commercials aren't use to seeing too many private boaters on that stretch and tend to clog up the put in and takeout, even if they don't have their clients down to them yet. 

For day trips everyone flocks to the Lower Deschutes and it's 1.5 hr drive. But don't forget the upper McKenzie. Put in at Olallie CG during the spring and early summer high water and it's a beautiful and pretty fun class 3 run. And only 1 hour from Bend. You also can drive 1.75 hrs to the Lower McKenzie around Vida. There is a fun class 3 section around Brown's Hole and Martin Rapid. The upper McKenzie is a more technical character but you can row any stretch of that river. 

You can drive about 2 hours to some class 3 rafting on the North Santiam. Put in at Packsaddle and takeout at Fishermen's Bend. The N Santiam is better in Spring/early summer, and gets low and slow in August. But it comes back to life in the fall when they start releasing water out of Detroit Lake (res.) for the rainy season. You can easily row it. 

If you're willing to drive 2.5 hours my favorite day trip in the state is the North Umpqua along Hwy 138. This is a more technical nature of river. If you're comfortable rowing those type of rivers then yes you can do it. This is also best done in the spring/early summer. But the N Umpqua is really fun rapids, amazing scenery, and much less boater traffic then other rivers. It is mostly more technical class 3 with one class 4 (pinball). There is also great camping in the area. 

Bend is also a great launch point for multi day raft trips. The Deschutes, John Day, NF John Day, Rogue, Owyhee are all within a half days drive. The Grand Rhonde, Snake, Salmon and Central Id rivers are all within a Days drive. And you can row all those rivers. The only places that I can think of that offer that many multi day rafting options within a days drive are Idaho and parts of the Colorado Plateau.


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## Learch (Jul 12, 2010)

One river not mentioned that is relatively close to Bend is the Mckenzie. It is public land with some nice camping and things to do on the upper reaches, a lot of roadside boating, and plenty of nice launch/ put in sites. I have yet to use them all, or see all of the river. It is a beautiful area in the Cascade range, and has enough water year round, even if it is a little boney for rafts late in the season. We ended the summer there camping at Olallie and floating the river Labor day 2013.


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## 2tomcat2 (May 27, 2012)

Second on hot. Encountered rattlers in every camp. Lots of friendly folks on the river.
If rafting the lower section, scout Whitehorse (Class III) on the right...long and good entry needed. All in all, great river.


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## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

*There is some unusual geology near Bend.*

Almost every feature in view is volcanic in origin. What stands out is the amount of pumice. The 'popcorn pummy soils' common are mostly from the eruption of Mt Mazama, (Crater Lake), 7700 years ago. The many feet of ash laid down here killed all the large mammals. Deer, Elk, Bear and Humans. Native American presence disappears locally for 1500 years. 

The soils here, if you could call them that, are super porous and most moisture goes straight down instead of into a river system. The area near Mt Bachelor and the Three Sisters really drains the clouds, it's filtered and goes down into the aquifer so Bend can get a lot of fabulous drinking water. When I was a FS employee, if I got the chance I filled up my water canteens at Deschutes Bridge GS. Great water.

{Sisters has the second biggest drop off in precip in a short space. It is from the Pacific Crest to a semi arid desert just east of town. Mongolia has the biggest. Much of the eastside watershed is only 6 - 9 inches per year.}

The Deschutes above Bend gets dammed for agriculture. Not really that much for power or flood control. There is very little flooding locally because of the absorbent soils. Just a couple days ago, Sunriver was having flooding. Big snow dump followed by good warm rain. Not from the Deschutes River but the normally dryer ground between Sunriver and Hwy 97. It was frozen and wouldn't let moisture down. The dam that formed at the railroad tracks burst and viola. There have been ice dams in Bend that caused flooding in some neighborhoods.

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Why is this trivia important?

The river flow is messed with by nature and man, compared to other places.
The higher flows are opposite of when they should be because of the dams. Less CFS overall because of porous soils.

Between Bend and Redmond the Deschutes is now more of a large stream than a river. (The water is lost largely to flood irrigation.) Inner tube rafters play there some but sport boating is lost. There are remnant lava tubes where kids drown and bodies get captured. They turn off the spigot to get them out. My oldest son lost a good friend who was Redmond's best swimmer to one. Jay had numerous gifts.
Caution advised.

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There is a very neat river near Sisters that is almost never run nowadays. The Metolius has a bigger drop per mile than the GC. Its just one constant class 1 with some 2. For miles. The logs are not being removed for fish habitat. There is a very serious attempt to restore Salmon after the dams on the lower Deschutes took their cut. With no recovery and the danger of pins constant plus very limited scouting available the Metolius is just too dangerous. 

*You should visit the Metolius. Several Nice Campsites.* The spring where it starts is fabulous. There are other streams in CO that start from one spring and they are a treat to see. Below that pumice are layers of lava that sometimes can be impervious. Where they connect with the surface you get Fall River or Jack Creek. The Upper Metolius, above lower bridge, can be IK'd. But only with a dry suit etc because it is cold spring water. Seriously cold. Bridges are low. You could do a run that finishes at your campsite.

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I'm thinking for some on a travel schedule. Do Maupin. Camp on the Metolius. The McKenzie Float has mentioned. Then head to the N Umpqua. Sort of a best of Oregon. If I hurt anyones feelings near the Rogue or Illinois, speak up.

The Mckenzie in the early Fall is wonderfully colorful.


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