Central Oregon

Trip Guide: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

This sunny Central Oregon treasure is the perfect spring escape for hikers and rockhounds. At first glance, you see a stunning landscape with multicolored badlands and eroded pinnacles. And you think, this looks like Utah, or maybe even another planet. But it’s right here in the Pacific Northwest. The John Day River cuts trenches through […]

Quick Escape: Bend, Oregon

Bend is a sophisticated, outdoorsy town tucked in the eastern Cascade foothills, surrounding by some of the finest hiking trails, ski runs and fishing streams the Northwest has to offer. With more than 250 days of sun per year, you can visit Bend year-round, but autumn is particularly nice. Hike among fall foliage through late October, […]

Four Autumn Weekend Getaways in the Pacific Northwest

Psst…. get our premier guide to fall travel – Autumn Escapes in the Pacific Northwest. Get inspired to spend your fall weekends combing rocky beaches, savoring the harvest, and hiking scenic mountain trails of Washington and Oregon. Get it here. I’ve saved some vacation days, and I hope you have, too. For fall lovers like me this […]

5 Bodacious Breweries in Bend

Holy hops! I’d figured we’d be kickin’ back with a pint or two on our recent trip to Bend, Oregon. After all, any Northwest beer fan can tell you that Bend is the bomb when it comes to brewing, the birthplace of legends such as Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale (both courtesy […]

Sampling Beer in Sisters

Central Oregon is the kind of place where people like to enjoy themselves. You know, live a little. Or a lot. I sensed this when I was taking a stroll downtown Bend recently. Suddenly a giant peddle-powered brewpub on wheels rolled past me on the street. Its patrons were waving enthusiastically as they pedaled past. But that’s a […]

Q: Things to Do Around Sunriver Resort in Oregon?

Dear TripFinder, A friend of ours couldn’t use their condo in Sunriver, OR next week, so they’ve offered it to us. We’ll be there for three nights–my husband, 13 year old daughter, and myself. We don’t usually do the resort thing, but I’m sure it will be fun, and it looks like a good base […]

A River Begins: Hike to Metolius Springs

How do rivers begin? Well, snowmelt from mountaintops gathers into little gullies that form streams. And then those join to feed bigger streams, that then flow into rivers. Right? The mighty Metolius River in Oregon defies this basic geology lesson. It literally springs out of the shadow of a mountain. The mountain is called Black […]

Feed the Salmon Babies at the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery

Plunk! Plunk! In one quick second, two small fistfuls of small brown pellets were hurled into a small pond where dozens of mid-sized brown trout scrambled to snag a tasty morsel. We were in Central Oregon near Camp Sherman on the Metolius River, where we’d stumbled upon an unlikely family-friendly destination–a state-run fish hatchery. Fish hatcheries are longtime residents on […]

CAMP: Smiling River Campground, Central Oregon

Location: Metolius River near Camp Sherman, Deschutes National Forest campground website | (541) 549-7700 | Reservations Campground type: national forest Rates: $16 per night (reduced to $12 off-season) Details: There are 37 sites here for tents, trailers and RVs to 30 feet; no electrical hookups, though. Smiling River is one of five campgrounds set along the beautiful, spring-fed Metolius River. […]

CAMP: Pine Rest Campground, Central Oregon

Pine Rest is a small forest service campground near Sisters, Oregon, set along the gorgeous Metolius River in the shadow of Black Butte. It’s one of a string of campgrounds along the fish-filled river, though unlike the other four campgrounds in the immediate vicinity, Pine Rest is for tent campers only and includes just eight campsites. […]

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