Recent FANtastic Activities

FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area hosted a booth at Crooked River Ranch's Independence Day Celebration in June 2018.  Lots of local residents stopped by to learn more about native plants and our public lands.
Our Ring in Summer Member Party was great fun, as we celebrated local public lands conservation successes this year.
FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area volunteers weeded around one-year old showy milkweed plants at Steelhead Falls Monarch Way Stations in May 2018.
Author and hiking guru William L. Sullivan returned to Crooked River Ranch in May 2018 to present "New Hikes in Oregon."  A crowd of 50 hiking enthusiasts listened carefully, with many taking notes about future hikes to plan.
In April 2018, Marilynne Keyser shared a slideshow of native plants in the Deschutes Canyon Area to 36 participants.  The group then visited the Native Plant Interpretive Garden at Crooked River Ranch.
To celebrate Earth Day 2018, twenty four volunteers came together to pull invasive mullein and Scotch thistle at Horny Hollow Trailhead near the Lower Crooked River.
In April 2018, FANs hiking leaders, Jeff Scheetz and Eric Hansen, and photographer Tom Iraci, shared the beauty of the canyons near Crooked River Ranch and discussed safe hiking essentials with an audience of more than 50 outdoor enthusiasts.
An audience of 65 people, in March 2018, learned from Gail Snyder about the importance of collaboration and complex problem solving to restore the health of the Upper Deschutes River.
In February 2018, Jerry Freilich demonstrated to an audience of more than 50 people that bees are extremely difficult to identify even to the family level (let alone species).  Most native bees in Central Oregon are ground nesters.
In November 2017, Paul Bannick shared with a captive audience his multimedia presentation on the lives of owls.   Paul emphasized the importance of preserving and managing our diverse public lands to support healthy owl populations.
FANs volunteers, in August 2017, obliterated offensive graffiti painted on rocks on BLM land near Crooked River Ranch.  The natural beauty of this area is again restored. 
FANs Member cost is just $10!
​Shipping and handling is a flat fee of $4 for up to five guide books.  (Shipping in USA only.)  Please contact us if you would like to order more than five guidebooks.
FANs MEMBER DISCOUNT! Number of Guidebooks
Non-member cost is only $12.
Shipping and handling is a flat fee of $4 for up to five guide books.  (Shipping in USA only.)  Please contact us if you would like to order more than five guidebooks.
Number of Guidebooks
Guide to Common Native Plants of the Deschutes Canyon Area, written by FANs President Marilynne Keyser, is now on sale!

This field guide includes the most common native plants on public lands near Crooked River Ranch in Central Oregon.  This guidebook is small (8.25 x 4.5 inches) and durable, so you can take it on your hikes to identify native shrubs, bunchgrasses and wildflowers on the many trails around Lower Whychus Creek, the Middle Deschutes and Lower Crooked Rivers.  Organized by bloom time, this field guide is especially helpful in February through September.

Your purchase helps support FANs projects that preserve and restore public lands that surround the Deschutes Canyon Area.  FANs Members receive a $2 discount on each book.

To order books that you would like to pick up at Crooked River Ranch, please e-mail Diane at fansofdeschutes@gmail.com.

Guide to Common Native Plants of the Deschutes Canyon Area is  also available at these local booksellers:

Herringbone Books in Redmond
Dudley's Bookshop Cafe in Bend
​Roundabout Books in Bend
​Paulina Springs Books in Sisters
Bowman Museum in Prineville

Upcoming Events and Projects


​Free Guided Hikes - Sign Up Now

All guided hikes are free. To help reduce damage to the trail, minimize social impacts on other visitors, and protect wildlife habitat, group size is limited to 8 hikers, and dogs are not allowed. Registration  opens one month before each hike.  If the hike is full, sign up on the wait list, and you will be sent an invitation via e-mail if a space opens.  If you have to cancel, send us an email at fansofdeschutes@gmail.com.  This will open up the space for another hiker.

Lower Bridge Hike
Thursday, August 2 at 9:30 a.m.
Hike Rating: Easy; 2 miles
Guide:  Mona Steinberg

This hike is an easy downhill trail to the Deschutes River to a fairly wide stretch with great basin wildrye grass and wild rose.  Near the river, there is tall vegetation, and  a lot of birds can be seen there.  Group will meet at Crooked River Ranch Fire Station and carpool to the trailhead.

CLICK HERE to learn more and register for this hike.
​
Alder Springs Trail Hike
Tuesday, August 21 at 8:00 a.m.
Hike Rating: Difficult (due to creek crossing); 6.5 miles
Guide:  Jeff Scheetz

This hike starts on the canyon rim and descends down  Whychus Creek Canyon, passing below cliff towers and a dry waterfall.    Group will ford  Whychus Creek, about knee depth, to continue on the trail to  the confluence with the Deschutes River.  The trail ends in a pleasant  ponderosa grove at the water's edge offering views of volcanic ash-lava flows with colorful layers on the canyon walls.

Registration opens July 21; check back here and register then.

Save the Date for our September Guided Hikes:
Sept. 8 - Otter Bench Loop - Eric Hanson
Sept. 29 - Smith Rock Canyon Trail - John McGee
Tom Iraci, photographer and FANs board member,  created a slideshow titled "Beauty in the Canyons,"  featuring images from the Deschutes Canyon Area.  Click the blue button below to view this spectacular slideshow.
Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area
fansofdeschutes@gmail.com
P.O. Box 2127, Terrebonne, OR  97760
541.771.FANS (3267)