Deschutes County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 198,253. The county seat is Bend. The county was created in 1916 out of part of Crook County and was named for the Deschutes River, which itself was named by French-Canadian trappers of the early 19th century. It is the political and economic hub of Central Oregon. Deschutes comprises the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Deschutes is Oregon's fastest-growing and most recently formed county.
Prineville is a city in and the seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant to establish businesses in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 10,429 at the 2020 census.
Mount McLoughlin is a dormant steep-sided stratovolcano, or composite volcano, in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the United States Sky Lakes Wilderness. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, within the High Cascades sector. A prominent landmark for the Rogue River Valley, the mountain is north of Mount Shasta, and south-southeast of Crater Lake. It was named around 1838 after John McLoughlin, a Chief Factor for the Hudson's Bay Company. Mount McLouglin's prominence has made it a landmark to Native American populations for thousands of years.
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into extreme southeastern Washington. The range has an area of about 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon–Idaho border.
Pilot Butte is a lava dome that was created from an extinct volcano located in Bend, Oregon. It is a cinder cone butte which rises nearly 500 feet (150 m) above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of six cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. The other examples are Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon, Jackson Volcano in Jackson, Mississippi, Diamond Head in Honolulu, Glassford Hill in Prescott Valley and Pilot Knob in Austin, Texas.
Olallie Butte is a steep-sided shield volcano in the Cascade Range of the northern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the largest volcano and highest point in the 50-mile (80 km) distance between Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson. Located just outside the Olallie Scenic Area, it is surrounded by more than 200 lakes and ponds fed by runoff, precipitation, and underground seepage, which are popular spots for fishing, boating, and swimming. The butte forms a prominent feature in the Mount Jefferson region and is usually covered with snow during the winter and spring seasons.
Hayrick Butte is a tuya, a type of subglacial volcano, in Linn County, Oregon. Located in the Willamette National Forest near Santiam Pass, it lies adjacent to the cinder cone Hoodoo Butte, which has a ski area. Hayrick Butte likely formed when lava erupted underneath an overlying glacier or ice sheet, producing the flat top with near-vertical walls along the ice-contact margin as the lava cooled and hardened. Hayrick Butte has a nearly flat plateau about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) across and steep walls rising about 700 feet (0.21 km) above its surroundings. A cartographer accidentally switched the names for nearby Hoodoo Butte and Hayrick Butte; the word "hoodoo" usually refers to rock piles and pinnacles like those observed at Hayrick Butte.
Hogg Rock is a tuya volcano and lava dome in the Cascade Range of northern Oregon, United States, located close to Santiam Pass. Produced by magma with an intermediate andesite composition, it has steep slopes and thick glassy margins. Hogg Rock exhibits normal magnetic polarity and is probably about 80,000 years old.
The Crooked River is a tributary, 125 miles (201 km) long, of the Deschutes River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The river begins at the confluence of the South Fork Crooked River and Beaver Creek. Of the two tributaries, the South Fork Crooked River is the larger and is sometimes considered part of the Crooked River proper. A variant name of the South Fork Crooked River is simply "Crooked River". The Deschutes River flows north into the Columbia River.
Fort Rock–Christmas Lake Valley is a basin of a former inland sea that existed in that region from Pliocene through late Pleistocene time.
Grizzly Mountain is located in Crook County, Central Oregon near the city of Prineville. Its summit is at 5,629 feet (1,716 m). It is composed of welded tuff and is a part of the Crooked River caldera.
Ochoco Creek is a 30-mile (48 km) tributary of the Crooked River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, it arises in the Ochoco National Forest in Wheeler County and flows generally southwest and west for most of its length through Crook County to slightly northwest of Prineville.
The Wenaha River is a tributary of the Grande Ronde River, about 22 miles (35 km) long, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The river begins at the confluence of its north and south forks in the Blue Mountains and flows east through the Wenaha–Tucannon Wilderness to meet the larger river at the small settlement of Troy. A designated Wild and Scenic River for its entire length, the stream flows wholly within Wallowa County.
Big Butte Creek is a 12-mile-long (19 km) tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains approximately 245 square miles (635 km2) of Jackson County. Its two forks, the North Fork and the South Fork, both begin high in the Cascade Range near Mount McLoughlin. Flowing predominantly west, they meet near the city of Butte Falls. The main stem flows generally northwest until it empties into the Rogue Falls was incorporated in 1911, and remains the only incorporated town within the watershed's boundaries.
The Dry River is an intermittent tributary, 88 miles (142 km) long, of the Crooked River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The stream arises near Hampton Buttes north of Hampton and U.S. Route 20 between Brothers and Riley in the Oregon High Desert. Beginning in eastern Deschutes County near its border with Crook County, it flows generally northwest along the Deschutes–Crook county line, crossing briefly into Crook County before turning slightly south and returning to Deschutes County. Along these upper reaches, it flows roughly parallel to the highway, under which it passes several times before turning sharply north near the Horse Ridge Research Natural Area, 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Bend. Continuing north and re-entering Crook County, it passes under Powell Butte Highway, Oregon Route 126, and Oregon Route 370 before entering the Crooked River 34 miles (55 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Deschutes River.
The Crooked River caldera is a large and ancient volcano that straddles three central Oregon counties. The diameter of the caldera is about 41 by 27 kilometres and is notable for the welded tuff present at Gray Butte, Smith Rock, Powell Buttes, Grizzly Mountain and Barnes Butte. The volcano is considered extinct and last erupted about 29.5 Ma.
Skull Hollow is a small campground in the Ochoco National Forest & Crooked River National Grassland. It is located in Central Oregon east of Terrebonne, Oregon and often used as a campground for people who are visiting Smith Rock State Park.
The Powell Buttes are mountains with several summits located in Crook County, Oregon, United States. The highest summit is over 5,200 feet (1,600 m). The mountains are geologically related to the Ochoco Mountains and are named after members of Joseph Powell's family.
Barnes Butte is a rhyolite dome of volcanic rock in Crook County, Oregon, United States located partly within the city of Prineville. Barnes Butte is composed of welded tuff and is a part of the Crooked River caldera. It was the site of a 1940s mercury mine. In 2015, a BLM cleanup of mercury was done to reduce the health risk to residents of nearby IronHorse neighborhood and the Barnes Butte Elementary School.
The Cline Buttes are mountains with volcanic origins that form three dome-shaped peaks located in Deschutes County in central Oregon. They are some of the eastern foothills of the Cascade Range. Situated on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the buttes are flanked on the east and west sides by two separate sections of the Eagle Crest Resort. On the highest summit, there is a Federal Aviation Administration site with an aircraft navigation beacon. The mountains have several hiking trails as well as a number of popular mountain bike routes.
