Mark Fleischer

Broker/Owner

"Focused on and Dedicated to the McKenzie River Valley"

Locator of fine waterfront properties statewide!

Cell:  (541) 521-9720

E-mail address:

 mark@oregonwater frontproperties.com

Just e-mail or call me with your property criteria.

Deathballs and Waterfalls

The McKenzie River Valley was the route for one of the early wagon roads (1862) over the Cascades, pioneered by Felix Scott Jr. and company. Scott's name is memorialized with a pass, a mountain, a lake, a trail and a creek, all near the Cascade Crest between the North Sister and Mt. Washington; and by a donation land claim in present day northeast Springfield.

Well-known geographic features include: Clear Lake, the spring-fed source of the main McKenzie River, formed by a lava flow blocking the headwaters; Wolf Rock, North of Blue River, Oregon's largest monolith; Finn Rock, pulled out of the roadway by a mule team; Koosah and Sahalie Falls; the old growth fir and cedar grove at Delta Campground; numerous eroded mountains of the Old Cascades, an active volcanic chain millions of years ago which now form the foothills of the present high peaks (the New Cascades), including Deathball Mountain, named after some very hard breakfast biscuits; the fair tale Proxy Falls; and of course, the recent (2,000 to 4,000 years ago) lava beds at the top of McKenzie Pass.

The natural assets of the upper valley have long attracted vacationers and, as roads improved, permanent and part-time residents.  The preservation of these assets is vital to the continued attractiveness of the valley so far as real estate values are concerned.  Logging ways and means are now strictly controlled by supplies, critical to the valley and also the Eugene-Springfield area, which uses drinking water drawn from the McKenzie River at Hayden Bridge.

Historically, real estate values (in the upper river valley especially) have been somewhat dependent on the overall economic health of the United States, since recreational home buyers may reside in many other states and must have disposable income in order to fulfill their dreams of having that "McKenzie River ".  The supply of vacant buildable sites has significantly decreased following the adoption of stricter land use laws in the mid-1980's along with later revisions.