THE RUNNING Y®

In wildlife rich Southern Oregon, it can be difficult to know who is watching whom.  Using binoculars to scan a field at the Running Y Ranch Resort near Klamath Falls, Darren Roe spotted a mule deer in the distance. The ranch-based tour guide watched the buck for a while, and then switched his interest to flocks of geese and ducks in the evening light.  Thousands of hungry birds were leaving the safety of the marshes to feed in surrounding fields.  Roe looked back for the deer, but it was gone.  Flocks of white pelicans passed by in formation overhead, a belted kingfisher scooped a bite-size fish from an irrigation pond, a pair of northern harriers flitted back and forth as they hunted insects over the cattails.  Suddenly, a slight movement 30 feet in front of his truck caught Roes eye.  Look at that, he said. That buck followed cover for a half mile to come over here and find out what we were.  The deer watched us for five minutes, plenty of time for us to snap some photographs.  Then it disappeared again.  We turned our attention back toward the birds and spotted a blurry streak of feathers dive-bombing a barley field. The bird vanished for a few seconds in the stubble, then a northern harrier popped out and flew away with something dark and furry in its talons.
 
A cattle-ranch-turned resort, the Running Y is to Southern Oregon what Sunriver is to Central Oregon albeit on a smaller scale.  Both have lodging, million-dollar homes, dining, golf, bike trails, spas and plenty of outdoor recreation nearby.  But this is Klamath County, not Deschutes County, and Klamath Falls, not Bend. And that’s just fine for those who find their way to the Running Y.  A trip to Southern Oregon’s resort is like visiting Sunriver in the 1970s, before growth in Central Oregon exploded and changed Bend from a sleepy mill town into one of the West’s hot destinations.  Some wonder whether the Running Y will provide the same kick-start for Klamath Falls that Sunriver did for Bend. The missing ingredient, of course, is a downhill ski resort. While Bend and Sunriver have Mt. Bachelor, Klamath Falls and the Running Y gave up plans to develop nearby Pelican Butte for skiing after years of trying.  What it lacks in snow sports, the Running Y more than makes up for with wildlife watching opportunities in its watery landscape.   The Klamath Basin’s well-documented water woes may give the impression that the place is one 90-degree day from drying up and blowing away. While the plight of some ranchers is indeed serious, the Klamath landscape remains one of the most productive for wildlife in the West, with six national wildlife refuges straddling the Oregon-California border.  The Running Y was constructed with that in mind by the JELD-WEN Corp., of Klamath Falls, primarily a window manufacturer and the largest privately held company in Oregon. Located eight miles west of Klamath Falls on Oregon 140, about 6,000 of the ranches 9,600 acres have been left the way they were in the decade since bulldozers first broke ground. More than 6,000 cattle continue to graze ranch fields, while flocks of birds are drawn to the cultivated fields of barley, alfalfa and Yukon Gold seed potatoes.  Elusive deer may not know that new neighbors have moved in, unless they spot the gables of pricey homes tucked into the woods along a ridge top overlooking Upper Klamath Lake.  The largest freshwater lake west of the Rockies, Upper Klamath Lake is 30 miles long and eight miles wide. With a maximum depth of 60 feet, the shallow lake is notorious for late summer algae blooms that limit its attractiveness for human recreation.  But the wildlife doesn’t care.

Opened in 1996, the Running Y has slowly been expanding to meet its full development plan. It began with three condo buildings for time-share guests in the World Mark program, no longer part of the JELD-WEN family but still one of the primary ways that visitors are first drawn to the resort. Early amenities included a sports center with day spa, pools and tennis.  The first nine holes of its golf course followed in 1997. The second nine opened in 1998, along with the resorts 82-room lodge. About 700 of 900 home sites have been sold, with 125 homes constructed. The resort will handle 3,500 overnight residents and guests at build out.  A ride on a portion of the eight-mile bike path system is a good way to explore the resort. The bike route begins at the Lodge at Running Y Resort, a three-story dark brown structure with twin wings separated by a spacious lobby with central fireplace, small lounge, conference rooms and an outside terrace that overlooks the golf course. The Lodge’s drive-through entrance is landscaped with a rock-lined fountain with bubbling stream that waters native vegetation.  The bike route drops down a small hill on Coopers Hawk Drive (most resort streets are named for birds). It passes a manmade pond, where Roe Outfitters has its activity building to rent bikes and canoes, holds fly-casting clinics and stocks a trout pond for youngsters.  Roe has been involved with the ranch since its inception. He shares his knowledge of the surrounding area by guiding wildlife, rafting, photography, fishing and hunting trips.
The bike route passes the golf course clubhouse, nestled between the twin nines.

The clubhouse is attached to the resorts main dining hall, the Ranch House Restaurant, known for casual elegance and it’s steak, seafood and pasta dishes.  Even to a non-golfer, it’s easy to see that the Running Y Golf Course is the jewel of the property. Designed by the world’s most famous golfer of his era (the 1960s), Arnold Palmer visited the ranch three times during construction of his only Oregon course.  He returned later to shoot a 68 on the par 72, 7,133-yard course.  A scenic mix of water features, imported white sand and reddish rocks uncovered during construction, the course uses irrigated greens and fairways to accent the natural landscape of ponderosa pines, western juniper and sagebrush.  The fairways have vistas of surrounding mountains, the seasonally snowcapped peaks of the Mountain Lakes and Sky Lakes wilderness areas of the Southern Oregon Cascades.  Golf pro Jim Skaugstad is widely known in the Northwest after a career as a traveling trick shot artists. His most successful trick of all was landing the pros job at the Running Y.  The courses fast greens rank with the best in the Northwest, a feature that helped it land a 51st ranking on Golf Digests national list of courses open to the public. With a short season due to winter weather at its elevation of 4,200 feet, the course sees about 20,000 rounds of play per year compared to 60,000 at a busy Portland course. The $70 greens fees $70 (including cart and range balls) makes it less expensive than courses of similar stature.  Several holes on the front nine are lined with homes, but an errant shot is just as likely to land next to a grazing cow or to plop into a marsh inhabited by nesting birds. The ninth tee is elevated 120 feet, so golfers getting ready to drive are distracted by a view of the resort. The back nine is in small Paine Canyon, with the lodge and homes atop small ridges on either side.  The bike path loops past traditional Western log-style homes, Cap Cod ramblers with big porches and fantasy creations from architectural magazines. The mix keeps the resort interesting, but each home is built to the highest standards.  After circling the golf course, the bike path leads to the cluster of multi-family townhomes and condos, planned for 600 units at build out. Because of the high density, these are closest to the Ponderosa Building, the resorts main gathering area with its children’s playground, sand volleyball court, tennis courts, fitness center, pool, Jacuzzis and sauna, the Sandhill Spa and Shagi Mane hair studio.  Before returning to the lodge, the bike path loops the Bill Collier Community Ice Arena, a first-rate hockey and ice-skating facility that is open seasonally for resort guests and Klamath Falls residents. The path passes the Sugar Pine Cafe and Espresso, the resorts main retail center with breakfast and lunch service, a small grocery store and gift shop.

Peggy Davis, the Running Y’s main wrangler since the resorts early days, leaves little doubt who’s in charge of the ranch stables. Her horses lounge around the stalls, looking like they’ve never worked a day in their lives, but snap to attention the moment she walks by.  She calls three by name, saddles them up and loads them into a trailer. The stables have trails nearby, but she prefers making the short drive to the Skillet Handle, so called because of how the skinny peninsula juts into Upper Klamath Lake.  The riding begins on old roads, built in the 1930s when lakeside swamps were drained and diked to prepare them for ranching. The riding soon dwindles to narrow trails, with tempting morsels on either side for horses skilled enough to bamboozle their riders. The horse Davis is riding goes hungry, but the one ridden by a city dude munches its fill.

Popping out of a thin forest into a clearing, Davis rides up to the shore of Upper Klamath Lake. She startles two canoeists who hadn’t expected to see anyone else around.  The massive lake teems with bird life grebes, pelicans, cormorants, geese, ducks and herons. Their cries break the stillness.  On the way back, a curious coyote moves in to look the horses over from 100 feet. Usually skittish around people, the coyote notices the riders on the horses but shows no fear. Like the deer in the field, it’s difficult to know who is watching whom.

Terry Richard
Oregonian, Travel Section-May 22, 2005