How to float the Deschutes River in Tumalo and Bend, Central Oregon (With Maps)
Floating the Deschutes River is one of the best ways to soak in the beauty of Central Oregon, whether you’re enjoying the peaceful waters near Tumalo or drifting through the heart of Bend.
Floating the river might be my favorite summer activity, especially when the temperatures get really hot.
In this post, we’ll share some tips, lessons learned, and two great options for floating in Central Oregon’s high dessert.
How to float the Deschutes River in Tumalo, Central Oregon
While living in Redmond, we made it our mission to float the river near Tumalo, Central Oregon. We really enjoyed riding inner tubes in Bend. Floating is so popular there, you can easily rent tubes, take the $5 shuttle, and ride for two hours or more.
If you’re visiting and don’t have your own tubes, Bend’s a good place to start.
But we were hoping to find a spot with less crowds that was a bit closer to Redmond. We had heard rumors about floating in Tumalo but found very few details online (hence why we’re sharing our experience in this blog post).
We scoped out the situation, left a car in Tumalo, and got dropped off at Tumalo State Park with our double inner-tube and double ziplock bags for car keys, phone, and sunscreen.
See our float gear recommendations here >
We returned later to float the remaining part of the river from Tumalo to Twin Bridges.
Floating in Tumalo State Park – 20 to 30 minutes
Tumalo State Park to Tumalo parking area – 1 hour
Tumalo parking area to Twin Bridges – 2 hours and 20 minutes
Floating Map for Tumalo, Central Oregon
Floating Tumalo State Park
If you’re camping at Tumalo State Park or staying in the day use area for a picnic, there are several places to put in your tube or raft and start a float.
The park was very busy when we went, since it was a hot summer weekend. A State Parks pass or day use fee is required, although there was also a little bit of parking on the main road just outside the park entrance. We were just getting dropped off to start our journey, so we temporarily pulled into the campground side to unload.
The thing to do seems to be: pump up your tube or raft in the park, then follow the riverside trail through the picnic area and pick a spot to begin.
According to Google Maps, you could potentially walk almost a mile up river on the trail. As we followed it, we were noticing a number of spots along the river that looked pretty shallow, so we decided to put in our double tube near the first bend.
To be honest, this section of river in the State Park did get pretty shallow in a number of spots, and we were starting to question our decision to tube in Tumalo.
It didn’t help that our cheap tube from Fred Meyer wasn’t holding its air at maximum capacity. So we bumped a couple of rocks with our bums, but nothing too bad – no bruises!
I’m sure if you had a sturdier inner tube to float the river, it wouldn’t be as bad.
Several readers have written in about the Tumalo float since we first published our guide on another blog. Here’s what peple had to say:
“We do the float from Tumalo State Park to Tumalo about 5 times a week in the spring and summer. It’s a great activity for the whole family. If the weather is cooler and the river running fuller, we take kayaks. In the hot heat we use inner tubes.
Although most don’t use them, we bring our kayak paddles to help when we float in tubes. It’s nice to have a little control and something to keep you out of the bushes if needed. We always follow up our float at The Bite!
We floated the Tumalo once to Twin Bridges. We were in kayaks and I definitely DO NOT recommend that! Too many rocks that the kayak can get hung up on sideways and then nearly spill you into the river. I’ve seen and talked to many that float it in a single tube and have a great time. We will trying it again soon in tubes.
I like the idea of a longer float. 😄” – Holly, 2020
“I just wanted to thank you for putting this online. This was the best ride! We stayed at Eagle Crest and didn’t want to go into Bend where it’s super busy in the water. We started at Tumalo state park and got out at Tumalo Road at the bridge. We will definitely do it again as well as go further down next time.” – Connie, 2019
“Hi there, on 8/29/21 we did this float with 4 adults & 3 kids in tubes. I would recommend bringing paddles, it took us 4.5 hours from the bridge at Tumalo state park to Twin Bridges. Fun float, just be prepared and leave a little earlier. (We left at 2pm, got out at 6:30pm.” – Jason
Tumalo State Park to Tumalo Road Float
There were more shallow sections to come and a few areas where we needed to maneuver ourselves around rocks, fallen trees, or islands in the river. I think there were even a few Class I rapids. It was a lot of fun! (Though it might be too much of a challenge for young kids.)
If you start near the entrance of Tumalo State Park, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the outskirts of Tumalo and another 30 minutes or so through town to reach the parking lot at Tumalo Road.
Going through Tumalo was one of my favorite parts. You could see houses along the riverfront and even chat with people hanging out on their lawns as you go by.
We got out immediately after passing under the Tumalo Road overpass. The small parking lot was full that Saturday afternoon, so we had left a car on the roadside right across from it. There were also people parking along the roads near Tumalo Coffee House, which is just a block away.
If you’ve worked up an appetite, it’s just a short walk down Cook Ave to the food carts in Tumalo. We’ll definitely have to do that sometime.
Our total time on the river was about 90 minutes. That includes some time floating the State Park, since we hiked up the riverside trail a bit before putting in.
Tumalo Road to Twin Bridges Float
As we got out at Tumalo Road on that first run, we saw quite a few people starting their float at the same spot. We asked them how far they were going, and they said they had left their cars at Twin Bridges. They estimated it would take around 2 hours. And they said that section of river is also a mix of slow, glassy spots as well as some shallow sections and minor rapids.
We drove by Twin Bridges and scoped out the ending point for a future float. And then a month later we returned! (Updates below.)
To do our float from Tumalo to Twin Bridges, we decided to bring our two-person tube again. In hindsight, this probably wasn’t the best idea. But we did have fun!
The tempo varies a lot on this ride. My favorite part (again) was drifting past peoples’ backyards as we left Tumalo.
Then, there are two significant sections with rapids, shallow rocks, and downed trees to navigate around.
Having the larger tube made it easier for us to get stuck. Sturdier, single inner tubes are able to power through those spots without fear of popping. Not so with our cheap tube!
At the first hairy section, which happens at a kind of fork in the river, we ended up having to get off the tube and walk. Either side of the fork was shallow and bumpy, and we were afraid of popping our tube. Walking in the river was a bit treacherous. The river rocks are pretty slippery.
We found our way to land and were able to walk along a path until the river got less rocky. In fact, it appeared that there were trails on both sides of the river most of the way.
Around the two hour mark, there’s an old wooden bridge crossing the river. We almost mistook it for our end point until we realized it was only for pedestrians. From that point, there’s still 20 to 30 minutes of floating.
It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach Twin Bridges Road. Being a Wednesday afternoon in August, we saw only two other groups of people floating. We passed more people hanging out on the banks of the river, fishing or wading with kids, than inner tubing.
There are some open areas to the right where you can pull off and walk back to your car. A sign on the bridge indicates the importance of exiting at that point – or you’ll face a dangerous waterfall after the bridge.
Now that we’ve covered what how to float the Deschutes River in Tumalo, we’ll share what it’s like over in Bend…
Floating the Deschutes River in Bend, OR – How To + Map
When it comes to floating the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, the float in Bend is the easiest place for visitors to do so without signing up for a package tour.
The river in Bend is wide and easy to navigate, rentals are readily available, and there’s even a shuttle system so you don’t have to figure out parking two vehicles at separate ends of your route. Compared to the float in Tumalo, there’s less hassle and more ease floating in Bend.
To use the float shuttle (available late June through Labor Day), park for free at the Park & Float. Purchase a $5 shuttle pass from the booth under the big tent. There’s also an option to reserve an advanced ticket online, then check in for your wrist band.
This gets you access to the shuttle all day. If you don’t have your own tube, you can rent one from Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe at the same spot (rentals are also available at River Bend Park).
Staff will help load your tube in the trailer behind the bus. During busy times, they ask that you bring extra large or double tubes deflated because they take up too much space in the cart. When you arrive at River Bend Park, just find the Tumalo Creek Kayak people and they’ll inflate tubes for anyone with a shuttle pass.
The Ride The River Shuttle typically operates from 11am to 5pm in the summer, with more frequent buses on warm weather weekends. The first leg takes you to River Bend Park where you can safely and easily enter the river. The second leg of the shuttle will pick you up from Drake Park and return you to the Park & Float.
The float from River Bend Park to Drake Park took us around an hour. If you’re driving yourself, you could make it longer by starting further up the river at Farewell Bend Park.
You also have the option of getting out half-way through at the Bend Whitewater Park, which is a short walk back to the Park & Float area.
Note that if you continue on at the Bend Whitewater Park to Drake Park, you do need to make a choice of whether to go through the passageway of man-made rapids or walk around.
As you approach the Colorado Avenue Bridge, you’ll see signs that everyone must move to the left side of the river. This is because on the right is a white water section that’s only for experts (no tubes).
You can stay in the water and go through the passageway on the left for a series of small, fun rapids. Or you can get out of the water just before the bridge and walk around the rapids instead.
Another float route option, which avoids needing the shuttle or two vehicles, is to park within walking distance – between the Bend Whitewater Park and the Park & Float.
Our friends who live in Bend showed us this option. The float is only about 30 minutes, but the walk back to the Whitewater Park is easy so you can do it multiple times if you want. Directions for this option are below.
Read next:
Oregon road trip destinations
Our guide to Redmond Oregon
Our guide to Sisters Oregon
Central Oregon resort vacation ideas
