History
This rustic homestead built in 1929 was established as a bed & breakfast in 1978, making it the oldest on the river. The pioneers started with a small cabin and expanded to the lodge as it is now. Found in the shop were wooden crates with the family name and town it was destined for. The orchard, full of fruit and nut trees, sustained the family daily needs as it does for us and our guests today.
Relaxation
Take a stroll on our river trail which brings you to hammocks or benches and bring a book. Lay out on the lawn next to the river and sunbathe a moment to enjoy the sunset over the bluff on the river right in front of your cabin. We have three acres to view wildlife and a nesting pair of Bald Eagles to entertain us.
The original pioneers remember when the gravel bar out on the river hosted picnics for members of the locals and farming community. We still consider it one of the best fishing areas around. On any given day you can see the guests wading in to cast out a fly or lure. A lengthy 1200 foot bar provides habitat for rainbow-, red side-, bull- and cutthroat trout, Chinook (King) salmon and the occasional steel head.
Art
Meet resident artist Annie Margarita.
Annie is an professional artist since 1993 when she left the Marine Corps and went to Florida to work in the theme parks as a scenic artist. She worked all over the U.S. and in Portugal and Holland building aquarium, museum and zoo exhibits. After getting injured in Holland, she went back to Tucson to recover and ended up starting her own mural company which later lead to a degree in Interior Design and a contracting company for paint and murals.
When she moved back from Colorado to Tucson in 2008, she joined up with her local fly shop Drycreek Outfitters and landed into Project Healing Waters where she improved her casting techniques, tie flies, and build fly rods. This lead her to build a fly rod case out of leather. which became her favorite medium and started creating cases, handbags and other accessories. Online sales opened a brand new direction for her. She packed up everything she had and put it in storage, bought an RV and took off out of Tucson to find all the rivers that she heard of. She was out for about a year and a half and then went to Pendleton, Oregon for it’s annual leather convention. Fate lead her to open up her own store and leather shop on Main Street in Pendleton. She found new inspirations for her artwork, creating new styles of handbags and fly fishing gear. Meantime the Veterans Administration awarded her educational benefits to go to the University of Oregon to learn how to make Documentary Film for the Internet. She is now working with Bert at the McKenzie River Inn combining her interior design degree, artistic aesthetics and friendliness to create a fantastic new experience for our guests! We cannot wait to see what she does with video….
Your Host
Besides his European hospitality and his knowledge of birds and other wildlife, Bert has a background in management consultancy and interim management and studied sociology and business at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. His on site guide service is renowned for taking novice to expert anglers down the McKenzie in an original wooden driftboat for a great day on a world class fly fishing river or raft the continues white water on the upper McKenzie.
