Durkee and Burnt River Canyon

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Farewell Bend State Recreational Area

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Snake River Road to Richland

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Snake River Road/Brownlee Reservoir

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Brownlee Reservoir & Hewitt Memorial Park

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Seasons

Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall

Location

Drive 22 miles south of Baker City on I-84 and take Exit 327. Take Durkee Road west to Old US Hwy 30. Turn right (north) on 30 and go 1.6 miles to Burnt River Canyon Lane. Take a left and drive this road for 20 miles through Burnt River Canyon. An alternate way to get to Durkee, and enjoy some good birding along the way, is to take Hwy 30 out of Baker and follow it all the way to Durkee.

Directions

Habitat and Birds

The rich farmland around Durkee can provide good birding. The canyon itself offers opportunities to find Chukar, Canyon Wren, Rock Wren, and Bushtit. Ash-throated and Gray Flycatchers may be found here as well. The contrast between the dry hillsides and wet riparian areas around the river make this a beautiful drive and pretty good birding as well. Watch for breeding Lewis’s Woodpecker, White-throated Swift, and “Westerntype” Flycatcher (the distribution of Cordilleran and Pacific-slope Flycatcher in Eastern Oregon is not well understood) along this route.

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