The Crooked River has been the subject of many posts on this blog, usually centered on fishing. This week, with a welcome break in poor air quality, we headed to the headwaters of our favorite stream.
The Ococho National forest lands sit between the saged high desert and the thickly forested cascade range.
A half hours drive east of Prineville puts you on the edge of Big Summit Prairie and a web of fresh water springs feeding into the North Fork of the Crooked River.
As the name implies this stream meanders across central Oregon, most of it through hay and pasture land.
The canyon we frequent most is some 50 or 60 miles downstream of Deep Creek Campground.
We’ve pulled in here for a bit of lunch and a cup of coffee. The air is clean, filled with the scent of Ponderosa and it feels like Fall.
Deep Creek feeds into the North Fork as it turns south, away from the road and through a forested canyon and wilderness study area. The only way to fish that stretch is by trail and today we’re not prepared for that journey.
We follow USFS 42 over yet another low mountain range heading south and west. The pine forest gives way to ancient juniper and volcanic rock fields. At the junction with OR 380 we are surrounded by cattle ranches and the North Fork merges into the Crooked. It stays in this grassy valley for 30 miles before winding south into the Prineville reservoir. After which it will exit Bowman dam and wind through the basalt lined canyon we frequent.
We skirt the eastern edge of the reservoir, through Prineville and after a brief stop for chocolate soft-serve at the local DQ, head home. It was very nice to be out of the smoke and haze for a day.