A Piecemeal Descent of the Deschutes
From the Cascade Lakes region, the Deschutes runs crystal and cold from springs beneath Little Lava Lake. It makes its serpentine way through ponderosa pine forests, blasts through narrow lava canyons, then runs smooth and strong across the high desert plains of the Warm Spring Indian Reservation before making its contribution to the mighty Columbia River near The Dalles, which carries its water on to the Pacific Ocean.