Everyone heads west in Oregon — to the coast, to Crater Lake, to the green horror of Mount Hood traffic. Meanwhile, about 56 miles north of Bend, a 4,000-acre reservoir sits in a basalt canyon that looks closer to Utah than to the Pacific Northwest. Lake Billy Chinook doesn't have the national park infrastructure of Crater Lake, but it offers something that lake can't: you can actually put a boat on it.
The lake was created in 1965 by the Round Butte Dam, which drowned the meeting point of three rivers — the Deschutes, the Metolius and the Crooked. Each river gives the lake its own arm, adding up to 72 miles of shoreline threaded through volcanic cliffs, hoodoos and high desert plateaus. The name goes back further: Billy Chinook was a Wasco man who guided John C. Fremont's 1843 expedition through the area.
Most of the shoreline falls inside The Cove Palisades State Park, one of Oregon's best high desert parks, with adjoining Crooked River National Grassland handled by the US Forest Service. Between the two agencies there's a full spread of places to stay — developed campgrounds, cabin rentals and houseboats, plus the Cove Palisades Resort and Marina on the Crooked River arm for boat, jet ski and tube rentals.
The water is the main draw. Three day-use boat launches serve the Lower Deschutes, Upper Deschutes and Crooked River areas, and anglers get shore fishing, fly fishing and trolling across a lake famous for its bull trout — some caught here have topped 20 pounds, among the largest recorded anywhere. Kokanee salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass, rainbow and brown trout all swim here too. If you'd rather paddle than power, the six-mile Crooked River Water Trail runs past basalt cliffs and even submerged historic sites from before the dam flooded the valley.
Dry land has its share of the action. The Tam-a-lau Trail runs 6.7 miles along canyon rims with views over the lake and its rock formations, and cyclists can pick up the 30-mile Madras Mountain Views Scenic Bikeway out into the grassland. Birdwatchers do well here — the canyon country pulls in raptors and other desert species you won't see on the coast.
For travellers, the pitch is simple: it's Oregon's big-name lake scenery without the big-name lake crowds, and it pairs naturally with a Bend trip. Come for a houseboat weekend, a bull trout expedition, or just a rim hike at sunset when the canyon rock glows orange. East of the Cascades, Oregon keeps its best-kept secrets.
