Bend, Oregon spent $9.7 million engineering its river into three channels, and one of them isn’t for you
Walk out onto the footbridge at McKay Park in Bend and you’re looking at three completely different rivers running side by side. One is built for tubing, one is built for surfing, and one is legally off-limits to every single person who shows up — not because of a fence, but because of a frog.
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That’s Bend Whitewater Park, a 200-yard stretch of the Deschutes that Bend Park & Recreation District and the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance spent almost $9.7 million engineering. It opened to the public in September 2015, after nearly a decade of planning that started back in 2007.
River left is the passageway channel, and it’s the one you actually want if you’re floating with a tube. It runs a series of small, gentle rapids that ease you through instead of dropping you, which is exactly why most of the crowd on a summer afternoon is aiming for it.
The middle channel is marked experts only, and the park means it. This is the whitewater channel, engineered for kayakers, surfers, and bodyboarders riding a genuine standing wave — not a lane to drift into on an inner tube.
In April 2022, a teenage surfer died there after getting trapped by one of the wave’s underwater gates — the only fatality since the park opened. Bend Park & Recreation made equipment changes and reopened the channel that June; the signage posted at the park spells out which channel is which, and it’s worth actually reading before you get in the water.
River right is the habitat channel, and it isn’t closed as a suggestion. Boats, tubes, and swimmers aren’t allowed in it at all, because it exists to give the Oregon spotted frog — a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — a stretch of river people don’t touch.
If you need a tube, Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe rents them at Riverbend Park for $24+ per person, shuttle included. Bring your own and you can ride the Cascades East Transit shuttle instead for $5 a day, running between Riverbend Park, the Park & Float, and Drake Park about every 45 minutes through Labor Day.
Our full guide to floating the Deschutes covers gear, put-in spots, and exactly how the shuttle system works if you want the complete rundown before you go.
Budget about an hour and a half if you’re floating the whole stretch from Riverbend Park to Drake Park, or 45 minutes if you’re pulling out right after the rapids. Either way you’ll cross back over that footbridge at McKay Park — next time, you’ll actually know which channel is which.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before Bend fills up for the weekend, or skip both and book a camper van instead.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
