Last year Outside Magazine announced to the world that Bend, Oregon is, in fact, the best place on the planet to stand up paddle board. Thanks, guys. With our cover blown, it’s not surprising that paddling the stretch of river between Riverbend and Drake parks has become an activity not unlike Tinder meets bumper boats […]
Go Here
Posted inOutside
Go Here 5/20-5/27
High Desert hikes with local brewers
Because this is Bend, there is an actual organization dedicated to the your-peanut butter-fell-in-my-chocolate style serendipity that blends place-based education and craft beer. Behold: Beers Made By Walking, and you can be a part of it. BMBW has teamed up with the good folks at Oregon Natural Desert Association to organize a series of free […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 5/14-5/21
Old School Networking
Back in 1972, long before the advent of Meetup, a group of Madras-based outdoor enthusiasts got together and formed the Desert Trail Association to promote recreational exploration of arid Oregon landscapes. The group petered out in the 2000s but re-launched this year and is sponsoring a full series of hikes including a couple this week. […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 5/6-5/13
Get Out of Your Cave!
The Oregon High Desert Grotto, Bend’s chapter of the National Speleogical Society, records 690 known caves in Deschutes County alone. Just when I’d been in enough of the caves close to Bend—with their entrances christened with beer bottles, spray paint, and cigarette butts—to think, “Meh, seen one, seen ’em all,” I learned of these three […]
Posted inOutside
DO Go Chasing Waterfalls!
Despite the disappointing snowpack across the state, sunny skies and warm spring temperatures mean it’s waterfall season in Oregon. Here are three worth leaving the county for. White River Falls State Park This park contains at least three of my favorite features: huge geologic landforms, a series of cascading whitewater falls, and the physical remains […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 4/22-4/29
Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan
Many of us think of wildfire as being a destructive force, but fire plays a number of important ecological roles in the landscape. The ponderosa forests we know and love here are dependent upon periodic wildfire for nutrient cycling, revegetation, and to prevent the buildup of fuels that, given enough time, will produce the sort […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 4/15-4/22
Wildlowers
Central Oregon is so beautiful, that when looking for places to explore, I often forget to look beyond my back door. While watching reruns of OPB’s Field Guide (you have your Friday night ritual, I have mine), I was reminded of two important and remarkably lovely spots in the Northeast. It’s a six plus hour […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 4/8-4/15
These Boots Are Made for Hiking
There are so many things about spring in Central Oregon to love. Not the least of them is the unveiling of the Deschutes Land Trust free hike schedule. For over a decade, the Deschutes Land Trust has worked tirelessly to conserve thousands of acres of vitally important lands in Central Oregon. DLT lands serve as […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 4/1-4/8
Gold Hunting!
Last summer, I worked at Bend Park & Rec, and while putting in long hours keeping Bend’s parks beautiful, a coworker of mine, a Crook County native, spun me tales of gold in the hills near Prineville Reservoir. The stories were entertaining, and I filed them away, like pirate’s treasure maps, for later consideration. Scan […]
Posted inOutside
Reap What You Sow
Never mind those recent snow flurries—spring has officially arrived. And as branches begin to bud, and birds to sing, it’s time to start thinking about gardening. Now, Central Oregon isn’t the Willamette Valley. One does not simply toss seeds over one’s shoulder and return a few weeks later to find verdant greens emerging from the […]
