The 25,347 acre refuge, located in the arid Columbia Basin of northeast Oregon and southeast Washington astride the Columbia River, includes open water, shallow marshes, backwater sloughs, croplands, islands, and shrub-steppe uplands.
Migrating waterfowl, bald eagle, colonial nesting birds, migratory songbirds, resident wildlife and rare and endangered species can be found on the refuge. It is strategically located within the Pacific Flyway to provide Arctic nesting geese and ducks a wintering site and a resting stopover.
A trail will often be rated differently for different kinds of use. For example, a trail may be rated as Easiest for hiker, but Most Difficult for pack and saddle stock use because of the narrow clearing-width.
Trail difficulty levels can even be different for the same type of use, depending on the specific activities. For example, a trail may pose different challenges for a day-use horseback ride, than for a horseback rider leading a string of pack stock with camping equipment. A trail, which has a 36-inch wide, smooth, gravel surface, might usually be classed as an Easiest difficulty level, but if it is located on the side of a steep, rocky cliff where one wrong step means a 500-foot fall. It would be rated a More Difficult or Most Difficult.
Trail difficulty ratings are based on the conditions of the local are so similar trails in a different area might be rated differently.
Horseback Riding:
Backcountry trails in the Blue Mountains are busier that ever before. Crowding, litter and pollution are becoming part of our outdoor experience. We face a choice as horseback travelers: do nothing and see the quality of our outdoor experience decline, or reduce our impact on the land and see its beauty and solitude preserved. We can reduce our impact and have a quality experience by keeping groups small, traveling the less-used trails, improving our camp etiquette, using lightweight and compact equipment, and adopting a pack-it-in- pack-it-out philosophy.
The building of dams on the Columbia River began in the 1930s and changed it from a narrow fast-flowing river to a wide slow-moving reservoir. In some places, the river's depth was raised 25 feet. Many islands, riparian areas, and other habitats were flooded, but other arid lands were transformed into wetlands. Native cottonwoods, willows, cattails, and bulrush began to appear in previously deserted desert environments. McCormack Slough in Oregon and Paterson Slough in Washington are good examples of wetlands created by rising Columbia River water levels.
At higher elevations, above the Columbia's reach, the refuge's plant communities are dominated by species capable of tolerating the hot, dry conditions of the Columbia Plateau. Common shrubs include sagebrush, bitterbrush, and rabbitbrush. Native bunchgrasses such as basin wild rye, Indian ricegrass, Idaho fescue, and Sandberg bluegrass were once common here, but today they must compete with very successful exotic plants such as cheatgrass, knapweed, tumbleweed, and perennial pepperweed.
Islands in the Columbia River are an important sanctuary for birds year round. Ducks, Canada geese, great blue herons, and black-crowned night herons nest here in spring and summer. Thousands of ducks and geese winter on the islands, and many different species rest here during spring and fall migration.
Fishing for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, walleye, and bass is popular on the Columbia River portion of the refuge. A boat ramp is available on the Patterson Unit. Boating is allowed on the Columbia River and backwaters. Nonmotorized boats with electric motors are allowed on some refuge ponds. Call for more information.
Hunting:
Regulated deer hunting is permitted on portions of the refuge, as is waterfowl and upland game bird hunting. For more information, call the Waterfowl Season Hunting Hotline at (503)922-HUNT.
