Having lived for years on the Eastside of town, yes, the Westside is the place to be for mountain biking and being able to walk everywhere once you are done riding. There are a ton of vacation rentals as well as hotels in downtown Bend and on the Westside. These are the places I would recommend: Alpenglow Vacation Rentals & Bend Dutch Rentals, The Mill Inn B&B, Pine Ridge Inn and Doubletree by Hilton. Those wanting to go swanky should check out the Oxford Inn.
Is there any need to venture out of town? Seems like Bend has it all.Bend does have it all, but it is surrounded by amazing lakes, trails and nature. You could spend a whole week plus in Bend, enjoying the local trails and breweries, but there are a few amazing places I would also recommend. Firstly the McKenzie River Trail. We offer a shuttle to ride as a day ride. Amazing trail on the Westside of the mountains, dripping in moss, lava rock and follows the McKenzie River for 26 miles of technical riding bliss. This trail is on many riders bucket lists for good reason. Secondly the Cascade Mountain Lakes – Sparks Lake, Elk Lake, Hosmer. Just a short drive outside of town are amazing lakes that should not be forgotten about. Wanderlust Tours offers kayak or canoe tours on Sparks that includes transportation, Elk lake has stand up paddle board and boat rentals. A great place to enjoy a picnic, go for a swim and chill. And thirdly riding other trails outside of Bend. This includes Oakridge, Newberry Crater, Peterson Ridge trails in Sisters and the Ochoco Mountains. Central Oregon has amazing places to ride, many of which even locals don’t know about. You could spend weeks riding everything in the area!
Top things to do and places to see outside of riding in Oregon?Breweries! McMenamin’s Turkish Bath, $5 to soak, right in downtown Bend. Cruising around town stopping to sampler beer here and there, sit by the river. Go to live music! Bend has a fabulous music community and there is always something for everyone playing somewhere in town. Get on the water, either the Deschutes River or the lakes outside of town. One of the five million festivals that happen in Bend, Munch and Music, Summer Fest, Bite of Bend, Outdoor Games, etc. Bend is very good at shutting down downtown to have festivals and live music. Always a blast.
No, it is. Bend is an amazing community for bike riders. We have something for every mountain biker there is, although some would wish we had more downhill options, but those are coming. Our trail network is huge! And it keeps growing and adding more and more progressive trails. With Mt Bachelor opening this year to add more options it just adds to the fun. Beginners to expert riders will find something that they will love. And off the trails we have amazing bike shops, breweries dedicated to biking and a town full of people who love to ride. Our town doesn’t take itself very seriously, we just want to have fun and enjoy the outdoors. This feeling gets passed to those who visit and it doesn’t take long for everyone to feel the buzz.
Click through to view part two of the gallery of Bend before reading on…
How important are the breweries? I didn’t realise how amazing Oregon beer was!Breweries are very important! We do get a few guests who don’t drink, but a majority of our guests love beer and are super excited to check out all the amazing beer Bend has to offer. The cool thing about our brewery scene is that every brewery fits their own niche and is very different. That makes it really fun to go taste beer and check each brewery out. Some have pubs with a wide variety of food and others are just tasting rooms, all different as well. Want to see beer made in a hollowed out tree, random beer equipment pieced together from other breweries leftovers or a full copper setup that cost mucho bucks and makes for great photos? We have it… and then some. Even as a local, it is great fun trying all the beer available, especially since it changes with the seasons.
“this town makes you happy!”
Ya, we do. But the awesome thing is that you hear it everywhere, not just in Bend, but all over the Northwest. We are very fortunate in Bend to have so many excellent breweries. It forces us to push each other to try to set the bar even higher.
Must be the water…Without a doubt. Happy to be sitting atop one of the best aquifers and water sheds in the N.W. The Cascade volcanic mountain range filters the water giving us a head start making it some of the best water I’ve ever tasted.
Have to say your beer RPM changed my whole idea on how beer can be.Thank you very much. We, along with many other west coast breweries, are always striving for that balance of hop flavour before hop bitter, with a variety of blended late additions to make a beer that’s highly quaffable.
Many beer festivals going on in Bend?Seems like almost every weekend during the summer: Bend Brewfest, Little Woody, Oktoberfest, and Fresh Hop Fest are just a few.
The bike guiding companies seem to have tuned in to holidays with a beer angle.You nailed that one on the head. With the introductions of the Bend Ale Trail, summertime brings bikers from around the world. You can rent bikes, and there’s even a cycle pub with a designated driver while you peddle around drinking from brewery to brewery.
Deschutes water correct?Well actually, our water comes down from the Three Sisters. The Deschutes is used more for irrigation for farms north and east of town, as well as recreation.
You like your beer stronger but less quantity?Well to be quite honest… that depends. We have all types for any occasion. When asked what’s my favourite my answer is always the one that is in my hand.
Talk us through a day…Hmmm, I could ramble on for a while with that question…
This past week I finally submitted my application for graduate school in Portland and I’m hoping to get my master’s degree in Environmental Management. I telemark ski and snowboard and have since I was two and a half years old. I am originally a Steamboat Springs, Colorado, native and so one of the biggest lures of Bend to me was the huge emphasis on the outdoors and being able to play in the forest year round. In the summer it is most definitely mountain biking, winter it is being on the snow, and the seasons between I try to get out and rock climb as much as possible. As exciting as all of that sounds, I am far from an anomaly here in Bend. Everyone does all of it and that’s what makes it such a fun town.
To me Bend is the perfect blend of the community–oriented style of my hometown in CO and the culture and progressiveness of the Pacific Northwest. There is a huge focus on growing and supporting local businesses, and yet at the same time makes room for film festivals and big–name concerts. All everyone talks about is the beer. But what is more noteworthy to me is the seemingly endless expanse of perfect and constantly maintained trails out my backdoor. I grew up in the Rocky Mountains and, as appropriately titled, the trails are very rocky there. I had never ridden such smooth, flowy trails in my entire life until I moved to Bend. The local trail organization COTA (Central Oregon Trail Alliance) does such an amazing job keeping everything dialled and fun. There are always new trails being built, and you could ride for weeks before you rode the same trail twice.
You race downhill, a big following up there, what are the key locations?There is not much to be said for the downhilling community here. When I lived in Portland (for college) there were some amazing trails only 30–45 minutes away, here the closest thing (other than the new bike park, which will need some serious growth before it is on most people’s radar) is Skibowl on Mt. Hood and Willamette Pass. As for DH races, they take place more in Washington than Oregon, but hopefully it will begin to even out. A few key places (for the NW Cup at least) is Port Angeles, Steven’s Pass, Skibowl. Riding–wise my favourite places are Post Canyon in Hood River and Black Rock outside of Salem.
It all seems very easy going, low key… although a veneer of madness?I am not sure how Bend could be more rad, except maybe to cap the population and build–up the DH park like crazy. Yes, I may have to leave to get my master’s degree, but I can promise I will be right back here to the sunshine, the triathletes, the endless trails and truly endless supply of beer. As for the veneer of madness, it definitely exists. If you don’t have a cross bike, XC bike, hardtail and full suspension and 27.5”, hip commuter bike, paddleboard, rock climbing gear, AT or teleskis or splitboard with skins, a fly fishing rod, a Subaru, more dogs than kids, a Patagonia jacket and a locally–made ceramic mug to bring to the coffee shops for your morning cappuccino, then you will fail miserably here. But if you can keep up, you will have the most loyal friends and fastest rides and enjoyable life in what is undeniably one of the greatest towns in the US.
And the dog?My dog’s name is Everett Crowdog (honestly), and he turned four years old recently. We had a party.
“I had never ridden such smooth, flowy trails in my entire life until I moved to Bend” “Bend is a very complete cycling town” “there is so much freedom to shredding with someone who has intimate knowledge of the trails”Want to go to Bend? Check out Cog Wild, they have it all covered.
