Desert Canyon Golf Resort

Overview: Desert Canyon Golf Resort brings 18-hole golf to the Columbia River country near Orondo, where Jack Frei built a par-72 layout that reaches 7,217 yards. The course uses the dry, open landscape and canyon edges as its visual framework, with elevated ground, exposed approaches and broad mountain views creating a very different atmosphere from the forested courses farther west in Washington. The setting rewards distance control and thoughtful placement, particularly when the terrain opens toward the river.

History: Desert Canyon opened in 1993 as a project intended to make Central Washington a more recognizable golf destination. Cascade Golfer reported that Frei owned, designed and built the course, and that the new resort drew attention for its dramatic canyon setting and unusually ambitious scale. The property continues to combine golf with resort surroundings, while the original relationship between the course, the Columbia landscape and the surrounding high desert remains its defining feature.

Did You Know? One of Desert Canyon’s signature historical talking points is a 690-yard par five that was described at the time as the longest par five in Washington. The hole captures the course’s original ambition: use the large Central Washington landscape to create golf with a sense of scale that could not be reproduced on a compact urban site.