Much of the credit for this south central Oregon community is due to its prime location just east of the Cascade Mountains, which helps produce a high desert climate boasting 300 days of sunshine of year, and a comfortable rowing season from February through October.

Main Street, Downtown Klamath Falls - 6 blocks to the boathouse.

The areas power boaters and anglers enjoy easy access to over 82 lakes and streams, proximity to national wilderness areas and wildlife refuges and the massive Upper Klamath Lake (at 133 square miles, the largest lake west of the Great Salt Lake). That means rowers have Lake Ewauna more or less to themselves.

This lake on the south side of Klamath Falls, actually a reservoir created by an irrigation diversion in the town of Keno, provides 18 miles of protected water. A low railroad trestle separates the launch area and the northernmost 2,200 meters of the lake from the lower stretch.

The trestle keeps powercraft and sailboat traffic out of the wildlife-rich Klamath River wetland, leaving the scenic, 16-mile stretch to Keno for the rowers and the birds.

Getting ready for a morning row.

The Ewauna Rowing Club, which offers boat storage to any members who wish to join, has been a staple in the rowing community for more than three decades and its boathouse is located in a park right on the north shore of Lake Ewauna. It’s a prime location in a bike-friendly, historic downtown area with plenty of accessible shops and restaurants (don’t forget, no sales tax here!) that benefits from continued

efforts to link surrounding parks’ trail systems and to revitalize the city’s unique South Portal waterfront area.

While the winter climate at 4,100 feet in southern Oregon isn’t conducive to year-round rowing, active retirees will find that excellent cross-country and alpine skiing are fine substitutes, while the hiking, birding and camping offer summer options that sunny Florida can’t match.

#8 Natchitoches,
Louisiana

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