Cline Falls State Scenic Viewpoint

🏊Swimming at Cline Falls State Scenic Viewpoint

Within the state park's river frontage, the Deschutes River offers a mix of small rapids and calm pools, with swimming areas ranging from deep, calm pools to shallower coves suitable for wading, plus inner tubing in the swifter sections; OPRD explicitly allows unsupervised swimming here but warns of swift currents, cold snowmelt-fed water, and hidden underwater obstructions. This is distinct from the actual falls a half-mile downstream, where cascading channels and boulders have been the site of multiple drownings and are not a recommended swimming location.

📍How to get to this swimming hole

Located about 4 miles west of Redmond, Oregon, off Highway 126, on the east side of the Deschutes River; the park has its own parking area with direct river access.

Parking: On-site parking at the state park; a day-use parking permit is required (one-day permits purchasable on site; annual permits also available).

🥾The walk in

No real hike here. The water is a short walk from where you park. The actual Cline Falls waterfall is about 0.5 mile downstream of the park and is not a swim destination; a portage path exists for boaters/hikers to get around it on foot, but reaching it is not part of the normal swimming-area visit and multiple fatalities have occurred there, so it is not recommended as a hiking add-on for swimmers.

📜Backstory

Named for Dr. Cass A. Cline (1850-1926), a local dentist and landowner who founded the Falls Irrigation Company in 1892; a small town called Cline Falls grew nearby with a post office (1904-1919) but declined after a 1911 railroad was built on the river's east side. A hydroelectric power plant built in 1901 to supply Redmond and Prineville fell into disuse by the 1960s; its ruins were demolished in 2015, with the dam and diversion canal fully removed by 2017. OPRD acquired the park land above the falls in the 1950s for day use.