aupin is a funky little river town.

Tucked away in a remote reach of the Deschutes River Canyon about 40 miles north and east of Madras, Maupin exudes a laid-back, fun-in-the-sun charm, a seasonal getaway feel that stops short of giving the town that just-another-tourist-attraction edge. Hard on the banks of the Lower D, Maupin smacks you with a good dose of rafting-related commerce. But instead of crass, the word quaint comes to mind. Evocatively quaint, as in the summer of your youth, the scent of suntan lotion and the whiff of fun just around the bend.

It’s a friendly place, partly because this is small-town Central Oregon and partly because this little agglomeration of outfitters, T-shirt hawkers and fly-fishing businesses have to make hay while the sun shines.

None of this would be here if not for the river, flowing lusty and unencumbered to the Columbia and then on to the sea. It’s a land of rimrock heights, fiery sunsets and uncountable stars. The Deschutes here is wide, rough-and-tumble and exquisitely beautiful, especially if your taste runs to earthy tones and liquid poetics.

It was the river that drew Howard Maupin and his son Perry to the area to build a ferry in 1872.

According to the city of Maupin Web site, the ferry was the only crossing between the mouth of the Deschutes and Bend, except for the toll bridge at Sherar’s Falls downstream. A bridge was built in Maupin in 1912.

The town bearing his name isn’t Maupin’s only claim to fame. A veteran of the Mexican War, Maupin is alleged to have killed Chief Paulina over stolen cattle, according to ”Oregon Geographic Names” by Lewis L. McArthur.

Today, about 400 people call Maupin home.

My friend Roger Werth carves out a few days each summer to uncoil from workaday realities, fish these world-class waters and enjoy a burger and beer or two at the venerable Oasis Resort in Maupin. He parks his travel trailer at Maupin City Park, fishes when he feels like it and watches the river ramble by when he doesn’t. Maupin is a good place for both of those things.

When he gets over from the valley, I try to check in for at least a day to reconnect with him and the lower river. Roger was fine, caught an 18-inch redsides rainbow the evening before. The river, too, was just how I’d remembered it.

Floating the Lower Deschutes is a great way to see a sizable chunk of the river, splash and giggle through the whitewater or get from one prime fishing run to another. But sometimes walking the bank, poking along through the shoreline vegetation and keeping quiet watch over the rolling river is an excellent choice.

You can drive a gravel road upriver about seven miles to a locked gate and about 28 miles downstream until the road peters out at Macks Canyon. That’s 35 miles of auto-accessible river you can explore along this stretch. You can also park at the locked gate and traipse upstream to your heart’s desire.

When I was done walking and watching, Roger and I adjourned to the Oasis and a room full of friendly people. Making tasty burgers (and hay) under partly cloudy skies.

To get to Maupin from Madras, take Highway 97 to the junction and 197 in to Maupin. You’ll be driving out across a high plateau, cresting Criterion Summit and wondering if there really is a Maupin, when all of a sudden, the road drops from beneath you and you’re headed down to the canyon floor and the coolest little town on the river.

Jim Witty can be reached at 541-617-7828 or jwitty@bendbulletin.com.