Deschutes National Forest, National forest in Central Oregon, United States.

Deschutes National Forest covers approximately 1.6 million acres along the Cascade Range with volcanic features like cinder cones and lava flows throughout. The landscape is crossed by thousands of miles of trails that lead through different terrain and elevation zones.

Deschutes National Forest was created in 1908 from parts of the Blue Mountains, Cascade and Fremont national forests. In 1911 parts were split off to form the Ochoco and Paulina forests while Cascade and Oregon land was added; the Paulina forest was absorbed back in 1915. From 1964 to 1966 NASA used Newberry Volcano to train Apollo astronauts, and in 1990 the area around the volcano became a national monument.

The name Deschutes comes from the river the forest borders, called Rivière des Chutes by French-Canadian fur traders. Matsutake mushrooms are collected under permit for a two-month season starting September 5, with commercial picking barred in most official areas.

You can reach the forest through ranger district offices in Bend, Crescent, and Sisters where staff provide maps and permits for camping and special activities. Spring through fall offers the best conditions for exploring the trails, though some higher elevations may have snow late into the season.

In 2010 the forest, working with Oregon State University, hosted a first-of-its-kind genetic analysis of soil to locate matsutake fungi. Commercial picking is banned in most official areas, and the matsutake season opens on September 5 and runs two months; other fungi share a permit system with the Fremont–Winema, Umpqua and Willamette forests.