The Deschutes Basin is the second largest watershed in Oregon, covering more than 10,000 square miles. The Deschutes River flows north through an arid high desert landscape, originating in the west in the Cascade Mountains, and in the east in the Ochoco Mountains. Much of the geography of the basin has been shaped by volcanism, from the young cinder cones and pumice deposits of the Cascades to the massive Columbia River basalts in the canyons of the lower river.
