Madras is a small town of about 7,800 residents in Jefferson County featuring the Big Muddy Ranch, the Crooked River, and Lake Billy Chinook all of which is to be shared by everybody in the ethnically and culturally diverse population, including the Anglo, Native American, and Hispanic communities, as well as visitors. The area is known mostly for its ranching, homesteading, and railroad building, irrigation, dams, the settling of Hispanic people, and as a center for recreation and tourism. Madras is located among Central Oregon’s most colorful lavender farms and is home to the Aircraft Museum, specialty brew pubs, shops, and restaurants. Thirty minutes southwest of town is The Cove Palisades State Park, a popular hiking, boating, and angling destination. The park sits where the Crooked, Deschutes, and Metolius rivers come together to form the lake. Madras is located in the central portion of the state. It's approximately 123 miles southeast of Portland and has an elevation of 2,242 feet.