When people talk about Oregon’s natural beauty, they talk about the rugged and rainy coast, dense old growth forests, about Mt. Hood and the other towering cascade peaks that split our state. If they’re particularly well versed in Oregon geography, perhaps they mention the high desert around Bend characterized by basalt flows, juniper trees, and birds of prey. Rarely, do you hear mention of the 2.5 million acres in the southeast of Oregon and one of the most remote and largest expanses of undeveloped land in the lower 48:
The Owyhee Canyonlands.
Don't get me wrong, people do know the Owyhee. Thanks to a few Instagram reels and an increasingly popular 50-mile Spring float on the Owyhee River, the area is gaining recognition among both avid and armchair adventurers. But even that picture of the Owyhee is limited. In Spring, the Owyhee river canyon resembles the Grand Canyon and has rightly earned itself the moniker, “The Grand Canyon of Oregon.” The geology is towering, the canyon is deep, and the river is big and silty. This is often the Owyhee people think of.
Fast forward a few months.
It was October when we pushed our packrafts into the slackwater at the beginning of our Owyhee river float and the flow was hundreds of points below the recommended lowest floatable level. The water was clear, there were only 2 day trippers at the boat ramp, and our shuttle driver said she hadn’t moved anyone’s car in months: a far cry from the busy spring season.
Despite the placid water, we were nervous.
There’s very little information about low water floats on the Owyhee, and next to nothing on very very very low water floats. Some of what’s out there speaks of lost gear and shredded boats. Other articles talk about getting turned around due to weather before even reaching the boat ramp. I guess those are the stories you write about. On the trip there would be no cell service within miles for the entire 6 days we were on the water. There would be rattlesnakes, scorpions, and black widows. Questions about the unknown riddled the long drive there~ Would we be able to run the rapids? Safely? Would it be portage after portage, hauling loaded packrafts across slippery river rock? Perhaps most importantly, how would the fishing be? Only one way to find out.
Fast forward five days.
Our last and sixth day brought the only clouds of the entire trip. It also brought the only people as motor boats started to arrive at the far southern end of Lake Owyhee Reservoir to fish for bass and catfish. We’d caught our share of each over the last five days. No rattlesnakes. No scorpions. Two portages: one because a dam on the river was impassable at these water levels. One because we decided to play it safe with emergency services hours, maybe days, away and there being only one tight tight line through big rocks and big water.
The trip had been incredible. A redemption really, because like others, the Owyhee had bested me twice before. I won’t go into detail about the trip itself. It was the trip of a lifetime. Though I plan on doing it every year. And if you're interested, join me! I run a tour company out here in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Eastern Oregon, specializing in packrafting trips that go beyond the expected.
I’ll leave it at that and a few photos. Scroll past the photos for tips about running the Owyhee at low water.
Tips for exploring the Owyhee in the fall:
Check the weather religiously, but don’t trust it. Come prepared for hot hots and cold colds.
Have a backup plan and don’t be scared to cancel your trip and use it.
Have rescue and evacuation plans and know how to enact them.
Don't travel without some sort of emergency communication device.
IKs or packrafts are probably the only boats that I’d want to take down the river at boney flows.
When in doubt scout- the pool-drop nature of the river makes it easy to get out and scout a boulder field before running it. So easy, why not!?
Use a guide! Contact us for a trip: gowildusa.com / gowildusa@gmail.com
We recommend Judy with Owyhee Adventure Shuttles. Be careful of other shuttle companies. Do your research.
Read what people say about the roads. They turn to clay with even a little rain so come prepared to wait out the weather or dig yourself out.
Campsites are mostly sand, with no trees.
Come with rigorous water purification methods.
Practice leave-no-trace and follow local regs. This is a sensitive desert environment.
Back to the river~ Dan Sizer
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