Skip to content
Deschutes River State Recreation Area, The Dalles, OR

Photo: Pete Forsyth, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Deschutes River State Recreation Area

Tree-shaded riverside state park where the Deschutes River meets the Columbia, offering camping, hiking, biking, horse trails, and fishing.

The Dalles, OR

About Deschutes River State Recreation Area

This Oregon state park sits near The Dalles where the Deschutes River joins the Columbia. It works as an overnight campground and as a starting point for the Lower Deschutes Wildlife Area, which begins a short distance south. Visitors hike, mountain bike, camp, raft, and fish for steelhead and trout. The park has trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding, including the long Deschutes River Trail along the east bank. The lower river is a designated National Wild and Scenic River and an Oregon Scenic Waterway, and it requires a Boater Pass for watercraft use. Campsites range from electric sites with water to primitive tent loops, and the park is open for day use all year.

  • #camping
  • #hiking
  • #mountain-biking
  • #horseback-riding
  • #fishing

What's around here?

The closest stops to Deschutes River State Recreation Area, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Eat & Drink
    Date Night

    Maryhill Winery

    Under $25

    Columbia River winery and bistro known for wine tasting, terrace views and summer concerts.

    3.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Eat & Drink

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Columbia Hills Historical State Park

    Under $25

    A Columbia River Gorge state park of shrub-steppe hills, river shoreline, and Native American petroglyphs and pictographs.

    9.5 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    Local Gem

    Sherman County Historical Museum

    Under $25

    County history museum in Moro, Oregon covering wheat farming, rail history and pioneer life across 16,000 square feet.

    14 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Museums

    Dufur Living History Museum

    Check prices

    A small-town museum in Dufur, Oregon, displaying historic farming tools and information about pioneer-era life.

    16 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Cottonwood Canyon State Park

    Check prices

    Rugged desert canyon park on the lower John Day River with cliffs, grasslands, river access, camping, and dark-sky viewing.

    24 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    White River Falls State Park

    Check prices

    A day-use state park in north central Oregon centered on a 90-foot waterfall that drops over a basalt shelf.

    29 mi awayMore like this

Near Deschutes River State Recreation Area

More of the same kind

Keep exploring