Deschutes National Forest
Posted inOpinion

E-Bikes are Coming to Bend Area Trails. It Seemed Only a Matter of Time.

With a new user group comes a new opportunity to support local trail maintenance and education
by The Source Editorial Board

When e-bikes began to enter the mountain bike scene, trail users were concerned. Getting out into the forest in this way was inherently an activity that required committment — and anyway, wouldn’t those fast new bikes ruin the trails, and add more congestion in our already crowded network? Those were just some of the assumptions […]

Posted inNews

Seasoned Snowshoer? New to Central Oregon Sno-Parks? We Got You.

Pro tips on the best snowshoeing this season
by Ashley Moreno

It’s pretty easy to socially distance on snowshoe trails, and they’re often less crowded than skiing trails. To help everyone make the most of the trails this year, we reached out to local snowshoer and Snowshoe Trail Coordinator for the Central Oregon Nordic Club, Bob Timmer, to get tips for newbies and seasoned snowshoe enthusiasts alike.

Posted inNews

Where There’s Heat, Fire

Residents of a development near Newberry National Volcanic Monument put on warning for evacuation
Laurel Brauns

The Rosland Road Fire burned nearly 400 acres, 4 miles northeast of La Pine over the weekend, and the smoke settled in around Bend on Sunday morning. As of Monday, the fire was 30% contained according to officials from the Deschutes National Forest. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The wildfire threatened […]

Posted inNews

Reopening the Forest ▶ (with video)

Toilet cleaning and other services in the Deschutes National Forest have been closed—but recreationalists have still been “going.” You can imagine the results.
Avatar photo Isaac Biehl

The outside appeared closed up for a few months, but was it really? With trailheads and camping “closed” in the Deschutes National Forest during the COVID-19 outbreak and only partially being re-opened as of late, it would seem things out on the trails are even busier than normal. At Phil’s Trail trailhead this past weekend, […]

Posted inOutside

Central Cascades Wilderness Limited Entry System Delayed

Visitors to popular trailheads in Central Oregon won’t have to get permits this year after all, due to COVID-19
Avatar photo Isaac Biehl

On May 22, the Central Cascades Wilderness limited entry system was supposed to go into effect. But due to setbacks from COVID-19, local officials from the U.S. Forest Service announced that the new permit system will be pushed back until May next year. The new system was set to bring day-use limitations to 19 trails […]

Posted inOpinion

Wilderness Permits: A (tentatively) good compromise?

The new permit system goes into effect in May. Now we know what it really looks like.
The Source Staff

For the past several years, officials from the Deschutes and Willamette National Forests have been engaged in a process aimed at managing overuse in the Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, and Three Sisters wilderness areas. We’ve known since last year that a day-use permit system, with a cap in the number of users per day, was […]

Posted inOpinion

Don’t Shoot the Preservationist

Permit fees and limited access follow growth
The Source Staff

On Oct. 8, the Deschutes and Willamette National Forests shared their plans for implementing the new special recreation permit fees and a limited entry system at a number of trails in the two forests—which include areas around the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington and other locations in the Central Cascades Wilderness. This is the next step […]

Posted inNews

Cleaning up the Caves

Graffiti removal project targets Boyd Cave in the Deschutes National Forest
Damian Fagan

A popular lava cave in the Deschutes National Forest was “untagged” this month as part of a graffiti removal project. Using commercial sandblasting equipment, volunteers from the Oregon High Desert Grotto, Western Cave Conservancy and Wanderlust Tours tackled the challenging job of removing graffiti from Boyd Cave along Forest Road 18, also known as China Hat […]

Posted inNews

Hunting Near Homes Rattles Residents

Group seeks Deschutes County change to hunting carve-outs
Hilary Corrigan

A stretch of the Deschutes River between Sunriver and La Pine State Park has long had shooting restrictions in place, closing hunting along the waterway that zig-zags through federal lands and housing communities. Except for two little spots. The segments, each less than 1 mile but close to each other on the river just south of […]

Posted inFood & Drink

It’s Matsutake Season!

What’s better than wild, fresh mushrooms?
Avatar photo Nicole Vulcan

What’s better than wild, fresh mushrooms? Wild, fresh mushrooms you harvested yourself. As of Sept. 3, matsutake mushroom season is officially open in the Deschutes, Fremont-Winema, Umpqua and Willamette National Forests. The season goes through Nov. 3. People who plan to sell mushrooms commercially need a permit to harvest them. The least expensive option is […]

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