Lake Billy Chinook

Cove Palisades State Park

The Cove Palisades State Park is a state park located in Jefferson County near the towns of Culver and Madras. A popular location for boating, it is located on the waters and surrounding lands of Lake Billy Chinook, a manmade reservoir created by the Round Butte Dam across the Deschutes River, built in 1964. Lake Billy Chinook’s spectacular scenery and sunny, hot summer weather lie deep in canyons carved by three rivers: the Crooked River, Deschutes River and Metolius River. It was named for Billy Chinook, a Native American of the Wasco tribe who traveled alongside American explorers John C. Frémont and Kit Carson in their expeditions of 1843 and 1844.