Denio Canyon
On Feb. 9, 1945, a B-24 Liberator bomber with 11 crewmen aboard simply flew into the bare desert mountainside in the Pueblo Mountains just northwest of the town of Denio, above Denio Canyon. All 11 men died, and the crash was seen and heard from Denio, a few miles distant. The bodies were brought out by horse and mule a few days later. In 1990 a military team redug the crash site and recovered more remains, which were taken to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. No cause was ever found for the crash. The plane’s wreckage is still there.
Denio Canyon is a wilderness study area and one of the most remote spots in Oregon. You can walk up next to the creek on an old bulldozer track that leads to an abandoned mine; watch for the many rattlesnakes in summer. The going is fairly difficult because the track is heavily overgrown.
To find the canyon entrance, head a mile or so up the highway from Denio and park at the cemetery. The canyon mouth is straight west across about a half mile of sagebrush. The obvious road to the canyon mouth cuts across private property to the south; the sagebrush route is perfectly easy walking and allows you to leave the homeowner in peace.