Oregon
Lower Deschutes: Warm Springs to Trout Creek
About this float trip
The lower Deschutes holds a native redband rainbow known locally as the redside, plus a summer steelhead run, in a desert canyon that runs cold and fast all year. Warm Springs to Trout Creek is the standard introduction float. The rule that surprises visiting anglers is that you may not fish from a floating device on the lower Deschutes. The boat is transport between wade spots, which changes how the day is planned entirely.
Redside rainbows and summer steelhead on Oregon’s Deschutes, the classic first float of the lower river.
Highlights
What earns the trip
- Native redband rainbows, hard-fighting and wild
- A summer steelhead run through the same water
- The salmonfly hatch in May draws anglers from across the West
- Desert canyon scenery with campsites along the bank
Stops
- 1
Warm Springs Boat Launch
The standard put-in at the highway bridge.
- 2
Trout Creek Campground
Take-out and campground at the end of the float.
When to go
Best time to go
May and June for salmonflies, late summer into fall for steelhead.
Planner estimate for the mapped line: 38 min
Before you go
Know before you go
- Fishing from a floating device is prohibited on the lower Deschutes. You must be on foot or anchored and standing on the bank.
- A boater pass is required on the lower river, and tribal land on the west bank has its own permit rules.
- Rattlesnakes and poison oak are both common in the canyon.
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