Geology of the Lower Owyhee River, Oregon’s Grand Canyon
A free downloadable eBook for private use.
Explore the unique, exciting geology and history of the wild and scenic Lower Owyhee River with this comprehensive free PDF guide. Offering explanations, photos and maps, this practical mile-by-mile guidebook for river runners and campers is authored by field experts. Covers the 50-mile-stretch from the rafting put-in at Rome, Oregon to the Birch Creek Recreation Site take-out.
By Kenneth Giles and Kyle House
98 pages 8.5″ x 11″
61.2MB file size
Over 150 photos, illustrations and maps
Published 2025
From the authors
Welcome to the Owyhee River, a unique geological playground where visitors will thrill to deep canyons, mysterious hoodoos, and rugged badlands. Often called “Oregon’s Grand Canyon,” the Owyhee is among the most remote places in the continental United States, almost inaccessible other than by boat during a brief spring rafting season.
Wild and untouched, 120 miles of the Owyhee was designated a National Wild and Scenic River by the U.S. Congress. This geological guide interprets the river’s most popular and spectacular 50-mile-stretch from the rafting put-in at Rome, Ore. to the Birch Creek takeout.
A lot is going on in this dry and windy landscape. Towering lava cliffs, narrow gorges, riverside hot springs, and colorful candy-striped mountains will catch your eye. Part of this exciting geography was created as recently as a few thousand years ago while other sections are almost 16 million years old. There’s evidence of ancient landslides and lava dams that trapped the Owyhee for thousands of years before its waters would break free, carving new channels, scouring out dogleg bends. Canyon walls display volcanic rock in almost every form: Vertical, pinkish rhyolite cliffs in Sleeping Dragon Gorge to multi-colored lakebed sediments and ancient lava flows in the badlands of Chalk Basin.
The goal with our Geology of the Lower Owyhee River is to explain what you see as you travel downriver, knowing there is a “WOW moment” around every bend. Try out a few hikes away from camp. Enjoy a hot springs riverside soak as did the first people who came into this region. Marvel at their ancient petroglyph-covered boulders. Try to imagine life on the Owyhee near Birch Creek when a group of hunter-gathers lived in pit houses there 7,600 years ago. Wonder at the geology, enjoy the wildlife, and let the serenity of the Owyhee seep into your bones. This is a magical place with much to tell us.
Kenneth Giles
Kyle House
2025