Deschutes River Trail Mountain Bike Ride from Sunriver to Bend

On August 23rd, a friend of mine, Jim, and I took a 24 mile ride on the Deschutes River Trail between Sunriver and Bend. We left Sunriver on paved bike paths for a few miles, then we hit the Benham Falls Trail. It was single track most of the way on the Deschutes River Trail, until we hit the town of Bend. Where we picked up a paved trail for a couple of miles. The single track along the Deschutes river was fun. Amazing views all along the way. The Lava Lands paralleled across most of the river. There were several meadows that had mini lakes that were created by spill over of the Deschutes.

The trail leading out of Sunriver. It rained the night before so the dust was much less of a problem.

Benham Falls on the Deschutes River

One of the meadows. It was heating up quick out of the shade. 

Trail through another meadow

I believe this is a ranch. But the view seemed forever. 

The trail along the Deschutes along one of the meadows. The one I believe is a ranch. 

Some rapids along the Lava Flow. The lava flow is visible along much of the trail.  

I have no idea what this is. There is a disconnected coax type cable dangling from it. I suspect it was for measuring water flow and transmitting it somewhere or something. 

The trail weaved in and out of the forest until we got closer to Bend. At some points along the river, there were some rocky spots that tested our abilities. I bit it a couple times, but i walked away unscathed. 

This map shows my GPS route. We ended up at St Francis McMenamins Pub in Bend. We were picked up and brought back to Sunriver by Jim's wife.