The Dry River is an intermittent tributary, 88 miles (141.6 km) long, of the Crooked River

Crooked River (Oregon)

The Crooked River is a tributary, long, of the Deschutes River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The river begins at the confluence of South Fork Crooked River and Beaver Creek. Of the two tributaries, the South Fork Crooked River is the larger and is sometimes considered part of the Crooked River proper...

 in the U.S. state of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. The stream arises near Hampton Buttes north of Hampton

Hampton, Oregon

Hampton is an unincorporated community in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located about 20 miles southeast of Brothers, on U.S. Route 20, on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert. It is the largest settlement between Bend and Hines....

 and U.S. Route 20

U.S. Route 20

U.S. Route 20 is an east–west United States highway. As the "0" in its route number implies, US 20 is a coast-to-coast route. Spanning , it is the longest road in the United States, and the route sparsely parallels Interstate 90...

 between Brothers

Brothers, Oregon

Brothers is an unincorporated community in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States on U.S. Route 20. It is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. It lies at an elevation of above sea level.-History:...

 and Riley

Riley, Oregon

Riley, Oregon is an unincorporated community in Harney County, Oregon, United States. The center of the community is at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 395 and U.S. Highway 20, milepost 104. Riley is about west of Burns, the seat of Harney County. The elevation of Riley is .Riley is farming and...

 in the Oregon High Desert. Beginning in eastern Deschutes County

Deschutes County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Deschutes National Forest * Newberry National Volcanic Monument-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 115,367 people, 45,595 households, and 31,962 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 54,583...

 near its border with Crook County

Crook County, Oregon

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 19,182 people, 7,354 households, and 5,427 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile . There were 8,264 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...

, it flows generally northwest along the Deschutes–Crook county line, crossing briefly into Crook County before turning slightly south and returning to Deschutes County. Along these upper reaches, it flows roughly parallel to the highway, under which it passes several times before turning sharply north near the Horse Ridge Research Natural Area, 19 miles (30.6 km) southeast of Bend

Bend, Oregon

Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...

. Continuing north and re-entering Crook County

Crook County, Oregon

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 19,182 people, 7,354 households, and 5,427 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile . There were 8,264 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...

, it passes under Powell Butte Highway, Oregon Route 126 (Ochoco Highway), and Oregon Route 370

Oregon Route 370

Oregon Route 370 is an Oregon state highway running from US 97 near Redmond to OR 126 in Prineville. OR 370 is known as the O'Neil Highway No. 370...

 (O'Neil Highway) before entering the Crooked River 34 miles (54.7 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Deschutes River.

Oregon Geographic Names says that the dry channel of the river, which runs in places between walls of basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

, is clearly marked for more than 50 miles (80.5 km), from the west end of the desert to the Crooked River. Dry River Canyon, a deeply incised stretch of the river bed near Millican

Millican, Oregon

Millican is an unincorporated community in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States on U.S. Route 20. It is approximately east of Bend and is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its elevation is above sea level. As of August 2011, the population is four.-History:In the late...

, is used as a hiking path, about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) long. The canyon was carved during the wetter climate of the Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 epoch by water flowing from a now-vanished lake in the Millican Valley. Canyon walls in this stretch rise 300 feet (91.4 m) above the sandy bed of the river. Other sights include large boulders, juniper

Juniper

Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...

 trees, and Native American petroglyph

Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...

s.