Central Oregon–Bend and Sunriver

Hi Lisa,

So excited that you are traveling to Central Oregon!  We had a fantastic (albeit scorching!) time there with our friends this summer.

We drove from Portland to Sunriver, taking a short detour at Smith Rock State Park.  There’s a short and easy flat hike near the visitor center (along with a rock climbing play structure), where you can see views of the rock and the rock climbers on it.  It’s nice, but can get VERY hot.  Alternatively, you can stop at Timberline Lodge in the Mount Hood area for lunch (which we’ve heard is delicious) on your way from Portland to Sunriver.  Fun fact: exterior scenes of the hotel in The Shining were filmed here.  If you’re coming from California, overnighting in a rail car in Dunsmuir, has been fun for many families we know who drive from that direction.

Our highlights in the Bend/Sunriver area:

1. Newberry National Volcanic Monument–we focused our visit around the Lava Lands Visitor Center.  We got to explore and see the lava fields. NASA sent astronauts to test their space suits here (pretty cool!).   Rangers were informative and for a couple of bucks you can take the bus that goes to Lava Butte, which offers great views of the area.  You can hike too, but it’s much easier to take the bus. There’s also a cave that you can explore but we did not have enough time for that.  This site offers one of the clearest summaries of what’s available.
2. Benham Falls–trailhead is a short drive from Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  It would make sense to combine these two activities if you aren’t too tired.  Benham Falls is not your traditional waterfall (water falling from the edge of a tall cliff) rather, it’s a cascading waterfall, so it’s more like looking at water rapids.  It is still pretty and the trail is easy, if dusty.  According to this website, it looks like there’s a another view point that’s closer to Bend.
3. Crater Lake National Park–this would take the whole day so it may not be worth it if your time is limited.  That said, the views of the lake are out of this world.  There’s a drive around the rim that you can do that offers many scenic viewpoints.  If the timing works out, it could be a nice drive to do while your little one is napping.
4. Elk Lake–we stopped only a short while (ice cream stop :)) here but it was a bustling place with lots of water activities like boating, paddle boarding, and swimming.  Appears you can rent much of the equipment from the resort there.  En route we passed by Devils Lake, which was breathtaking with it’s turquoise water.
5. High Desert Museum–this place focuses on animals and the cultures in the area.  They hold a number of animal encounters; we attended the Birds of Prey encounter and my kids really enjoyed that.
6. Mt. Bachelor–our only reprieve from the hot weather.  It was high 80s where we were, but on the mountain, we got to play with snow in July!  You can take the chair lift up and there are nice views and trails (both walking and biking) at the summit.
7. Oregon Observatory–Okay, we didn’t actually make it out here, but this is on our to-do the next time we visit.  The night sky at Sunriver is very dark, and offers clear views of the stars and planets.