Category: Central Oregon

Central Oregon

5 Must-Have Experiences if you go to Central Oregon

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  • Old Mill District, Deschutes River Float
    • You don’t want to miss this opportunity to enjoy one of the most scenic, unique, and enjoyable experiences you can have in Bend. Floating the Deschutes river through the Old Mill District and ending at Drake park is a fun way to see the city while relaxing and staying cool on a hot summer day. 
    • Staring at Riverbend Park offers a safe, sandy shore for you to launch your air mattress, float tube, or raft.
    • On your float, when you reach the Colorado Avenue Bridge, hop out and walk through the handy tunnel that takes you to another put-in spot to start the second phase of your journey. You can also stay in the river and continue through the state-of-the-art Bend Whitewater Park. The park offers a mildly-wild passageway (amusingly referred to as “da chute” by a few locals) for floaters, plus a whitewater channel for experienced paddlers and a nature habitat channel designed to preserve Bend’s aquatic wildlife.
  • New Years Eve at Hoodoo
    • Ski mountain, Hoodoo, does New Year’s Eve! If you’re visiting over winter break with the kids, this is the place to be to ring in the new year! Complete with a party, live music and fantastic fireworks on the snow. Ski lifts run from 9am to 9pm with night skiing fun. A bar and restaurant is open until midnight with live music from 6pm to midnight in the lodge.  
The Sisters Folk Festival 2013. Held over three days, September 6, 7, 8, at nine different venues featuring 46 performers. Liz Longley and Gus Berry performing at the Open Door venue.
  • Sisters Folk Festival
    • In Sisters, OR (20 min west of Bend), all the town’s a stage each September as music lovers from around the world come to town for a unique community experience — the nationally renowned Sisters Folk Festival. At multiple venues nestled right in downtown Sisters, audiences get an up-close-and-personal encounter with some of the finest artists in roots music.
    • The ability to stroll through town from venue to venue is part of the charm of the Sisters Folk Festival, which brings people from all over the United States and Canada back to Sisters year after year.
    • Whether you come to dance or to listen — or a mix of both, the Sisters Folk Festival will give you plenty to enjoy. SFF artists may fly below the mainstream radar, but they are the real deal — talented, compelling and accessible.
  • Bend OktoberFest
    • Bend Oktoberfest is a place for great beer, fun games, silly events, and being a part of the Bend community. It is an incredible opportunity to sample seasonal local craft beers as well as select Bavarian wines, eat unique food, and participate in fun events like the Wiener Dog Races, Tricycle Races, Yodeling contests, bendhamershlagen (race to hammer a nail into a custom table), a costume contest and more. 
    • All of this takes place in a free family-friendly environment. The Bend Oktoberfest is produced by the Downtown Bend Business Association, a 501 (c)(6) nonprofit organization working to maintain and improve the economic vitality of Downtown Bend.  
Mt. Bachelor snowy flanks catch the morning light. (Courtesy Visit Central Oregon)
  • Mt. Bachelor Year-Round Fun
    • As the warm summer sun slowly melts the snow off Central Oregon’s most popular ski and snowboard destination, colorful mountain flowers begin to sprout, and hiking and biking trails emerge, weaving through lava rock, mountain hemlock, and lodgepole pine.
    • Summer activities at Mt. Bachelor cater to everyone from adventure junkies to culinary aficionados looking to take their experiences to new heights. While Mt. Bachelor is primarily known for winter activities like skiing, snowboarding, and tubing, there’s just as much fun to be had on a summer day at Mt. Bachelor.
Central Oregon

5 Incredible Backpacking Trips of Central Oregon

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Broken Top Loop

  • This 3-day, 2-night loop around Broken Top provides epic views of the Three Sisters Wilderness and the Central Oregon Cascades. 
  • This loop trip around Broken Top is one of the premier backpacking loops in Oregon. The trail winds past numerous alpine lakes, including the popular Green Lakes area, and offers near-constant views of Broken Top, the Three Sisters, and Mount Bachelor. Additionally, the clear skies of central Oregon in the summer allows views as far as Mount Adams in southern Washington and east to the Ochoco Mountains. 
  • For a detailed itinerary, click here. (https://www.theoutbound.com/oregon/backpacking/backpack-around-broken-top#) You will be taken to The Outbound Collective which is an online, community-driven platform for outdoor discovery.

Tenas Lakes

  • The hike to Tenas lakes provides multiple clear blue lakes for great swimming, and amazing views. Its a great short trail as well for overnight backpacking.
  • Starting from Scott Lake in the Willamette National Forest, take the Benson Lake Trail head that starts at the end of the road. This climbs gradually up to Benson Lake, a large, deep, cold lake. From there follow the trail up until you see a junction and a sign to Tenas Lakes. Follow this trail until you find the lakes.
  • There are lots of trails that will lead to multiple different lakes all of which have great swimming and if you explore you will find great views. You can also take this trail to the summit of Scott Mountain for a more difficult hike.

Canyon Creek Meadows/Three Fingered Jack

  • Canyon Creek Meadows is a beautiful, moderate hike through alpine forest into spectacular wildflower meadows at the base of the craggy and colorful Three Fingered Jack. This is a very popular route, and for good reason. The 7-mile loop starts at Jack Lake after a rough drive up to the trailhead, and it gradually climbs out of the 2003 B&B Complex burn area into an old alpine forest and stream fed meadows. The distance from the trailhead to the meadows is short, and one can either turn around and head back or continue the loop around Jack Lake.  If you plan to make the loop, Forest rangers request that you follow a clockwise path around the loop.
  • The best time to visit these meadows is in July, when the wildflowers take center stage. Permits are required to camp in this area, however. Due to overuse and inconsiderate visitors, the area needs rehabilitation. The Forest Service has posted signage in the most damaged areas. Please read the literature at the trailhead and abide by the guidelines. This will help ensure the place stays beautiful for the next generation of visitors.

Obsidian Trail

  • The Obsidian Trail provides an excellent perspective on the many facets of this unique Cascade environment, from dense forests to rugged mountain views, gentle streams to open meadows, lava flows to obsidian cliffs. These cliffs were popular with Native Americans who used the obsidian to craft tools. The area is only accessible once the seasonal snowpack on Highway 242 clears, and you will see snowpack on the trail well into July. August is a popular time of year as the meadows are full of wildflowers.
  • The trail can be done in a day or broken up into several days according to your time frame. The trail connects with the Pacific Crest Trail just after Obsidian Falls, and from there you can take trails to any of the Sisters or to Collier Cone and the Collier Glacier. The Obsidian Trail generally doesn’t provide the sweeping Cascade views you may expect from the area, but getting to higher elevations is easy from the falls.

Moraine Lake/South Sister Summit

  • In the Three Sisters Wilderness, Moraine Lake sits nearly half way up the South Sister and is a perfect goal for a day hike into the Three Sisters Wilderness. It is best however, to backpack to the lake for basecamp, and summit the South Sister. The lake lies at the base of the Lewis Glacier moraine. Like many alpine lakes, Moraine Lake stays frozen for several months a year.  The trail to the lake can also be packed with snow as late as August, especially in the areas shaded by mountain hemlock.
Central Oregon

Bend Ale Trail

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ExplOregon is here to share the top breweries of Bend, Oregon. Continue reading to find out what all the hype is about!

1. Deschutes

  • The biggest brewery in Bend, Deschutes Brewery is a family and employee owned business with a mission to create the finest beers in the world as well as offer extraordinary experience.
  • The original pub house in Bend has been an iconic downtown fixture since 1988. There is also a pub in Bend that offers a variety of food to pair with the craft beers.
  • Deschutes brews are available in 28 states and even in Canada!

2. 10 Barrel

  • A local brewery that started in 2006. They have eight year-round brews on tap, two seasonal, and four small tank series. Their pub has ambient outdoor seating with fire pits, and minors and dogs are welcome as well!
  • A bonus about 10 Barrel is their charitable mission where they choose a different charity partner each month and raise funds in a multitude of ways throughout the month for that specific charity!

3. Crux

  • Crux has a unique location in Bend near the Old Mill District but in an industrial area. In inspiration of that unique location, Crux uses non-traditional methods to craft their tasty beers. Some techniques include decoction mashing, open fermentation, and barrel aging.
  • They have 20+ original craft beers on tap and their tasting room is right in the middle of the brewery! They also have a large, grassy area where there are often food carts and live music in the summer.

4. Good Life

  • Good Life Brewing Company was opened in 2011 and is located in Bend Oregon at 70 SW Century Drive #100-464
  • Good Life brews on 30 barrel which they had custom designed to produce high quality beer.
  • Enjoy the rustic, hip brewery with great beer and great friends, and don’t forget to use #GoodLifeBrewing

5. Three Creeks

  • Locates 20 miles northwest of Bend in a town called Sisters, Three Creeks Brewing company offers craft beers with malts from around the world, Oregon hops, and Cascade Mountain water.
  • The production brewery is open to the public June – September, Friday’s and Saturday’s 3-7 pm.
  • Three Creeks has a pub as well serving a variety of foods that pair perfectly with their variety of beers.

6. Boneyard

  • Opening in 2010 in an old auto shop building Bone Yard Brewing really started in a bone yard, once renovated they purchased 20 used barrels to start their brewing process, they still use them today!
  • Located at 37 NW Lake Pl in Bend Oregon . Once there you will enjoy a plethora of IPAs

7. Silver Moon

  • Silver Moon is the 3rd oldest brewery in Bend rightfully marking its place in the “OG’s” of bends phenomenal craft beer legacy.
  • While visiting this picturesque location you will enjoy a rustic contemporary look with lip smacking beer to boot! Silver Moons Favorite Slogan is “Here’s to the moon. (And back)”