The Deschutes River Trail from Sunriver to the Benham Falls East Trailhead follows a mostly single track route that winds along cliffs overlooking the Deschutes covering about 2.5 miles between the two locations.
Beginning at the small parking area at the edge of the town of Sunriver, the trail heads into the woods on a dirt trail that weaves amongst standing and fallen trees. The hike itself feels pretty remote, except that the trail tends to be pretty popular amongst hikers and mountain bikers, so you'll likely run into others on the path to pull you from this feeling.
With a few stretches of soft sand, and other areas that climb across somewhat technical volcanic stone, it remains a pretty straightforward hike that at times is perched on cliffs looking straight down at the river, and at other times passes driveways to river access points that might be backed up with rafting tour operators during the height of the summer season.
Eventually, the route drops down to the Benham Falls East Trailhead, which has its own parking area along with bathrooms and picnic benches. A variety of other hiking trails begin here, in case you'd like to tack on some distance or explore further. You can also join the Sun Lava Trail here to create a loop path back to the parking area.
There are no amenities at the Sunriver parking area and only spaces for a few cars, which tend to fill up during the summer season. It's also possible to start and end this hike from the Benham Falls East Trailhead.
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