3.0 hr
Overview
During the last Ice Age, large lakes covered wide areas of what is now the high desert of eastern Oregon. One such lake was Lake Millican, which backed up against a lava dam. When water levels rose from time to time, overflow from the lake cascaded violently down the course of the Dry River, carving the 300-foot deep canyon you see today. You can hike most of the length of the canyon, although only during the months of September through January; at other times, the trail is closed so as not to disturb nesting peregrine falcons. Most people hike about 2.3 miles in, as far as a boulder field that blocks the canyon just beyond a couple of relict ponderosa pines. The trail skirts above the boulders and does continue, eventually leaving the canyon and turning up to Highway 20. You don’t have to go quite that far unless you are doing a car shuttle, leaving a second vehicle across the highway at the Evens Well Trailhead .
Trail Stats
10.3 km
168 m
1288 m
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Photos
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Trail photo
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