The Cardinal Landing Bridge is a footbridge over the Deschutes River. Located on the west side of Sunriver, the bridge connects walking and paved biking paths to off-road bike trails and forest service roads. This is a must stop viewpoint!

Do you know more about the history of this bridge? Let us know!

“What Fall River Falls lacks in stature it makes up in character. The river, placid above and below, skips down a jagged 14 foot step of what appeared to be heavily eroded columnar basalt, surrounded by grassy meadows and lodgepole pine. The Fall River is fed by a series of springs and retains a very consistent volume all year long. ” [Northwest Waterfall Survey]

One of the best views of the Deschutes River in the park. The viewpoint is at a tight bend in the river and is named for Don McGregor who was a member of the State Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee in the 1960s and ‘70s. [The Oregonian]

Once an arching bend in the river, at some time the river forged a new, straighter channel bypassing the bend. Thus, the Dead Slough. The slough was selected as a site to study overwinter and breeding habitat of the Oregon spotted frog. The frog, endemic to the Pacific Northwest, is noted as a vulnerable species. Keep your eyes open for these tiny critters, which range from 1.75-4 inches in length.   [Deschutes River Conservancy]

“Located about 150 feet from the Deschutes River, this big Pacific Ponderosa rises higher to the sky than all other big ponderosa trees on the nearby landscape. Many of its branches are bigger than the other, younger ponderosa trees that populate the Deschutes National Forest.

Big Red claims the crown as the biggest and perhaps the oldest of its kind ponderosa in the U.S. It’s been around longer than white settlement in North America. Tree experts have calculated its age at over 500 years and perhaps as much as 600 years old, sprouting from the seeds of a cone around the years of 1400-1500 AD.” [The Source]

Just downstream stood the narrow, wooden General Patch Bridge, which was built in 1944 by the Army Corps of Engineers. The bridge was named for General Alexander Patch, who trained troops at nearby Camp Abbot in the 1940s during the U.S. Army’s “Oregon Maneuver” combat training exercise. The bridge served as a footbridge until a 2006 inspection determined it to be in substandard condition. The bridge was immediately closed to all traffic and was demolished in 2008 by the Forest Service. [US Forest Service and Wikimedia Commons]

The modern bridge, on which the Big Big Red route passes, was built in 1984. Twenty years later, the bridge was named the Robert D. Maxwell Veterans Memorial Bridge. Robert Dale Maxwell (1920-2019) was a US Army combat soldier and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration, for his heroism in France during WWII. Patch, who commanded the U.S. Seventh Army during the war, had recommended Maxwell for the Medal of Honor. [Wikipedia]

Highway 97 and Mt. Bachelor ski area put Central Oregon on the map in the 1950s, helping the local economy transition from timber to tourism. In the 1960s, real estate lawyer Don McCallum had a wild idea for an ecologically sound resort community. With architect Robert Royston and naturalist Jim Anderson on board, Sunriver came to be in 1968. Critics were skeptical at first, but the area grew quickly, boasting a lodge, condos, golf course, stables and more by 1971. Today, Sunriver continues to be a thriving resort community.

A slough is an area that only gets filled with water every now and then. This particular slough, situated at a massive bend in the Deschutes River, is nestled below a mature stand of ponderosa pines. The slough is home to all sorts of water-loving critters. Keep your eyes peeled, and you very well may spot one of those creatures!

Do you know more about the importance or history of this slough? Let us know!