Find Out More About Bend Oregon

In what could be classified as one of the worst kept secrets in destination travel, the word is out about the unique combination of outdoor recreation and cosmopolitan sophistication that make Bend, Oregon, one of the United States’ up-and-coming leisure destinations.

Few mountain towns have had as much praise heaped on them in recent years as Bend has, a testament to the former mill town turned adventure playground that has defined itself as the mountain town that’s got it all.

But rather than tell you what we think makes Bend unique and special among mountain destinations, we have compiled the following selection of excerpts from recent editorial features that have appeared in some of the country’s top media outlets. From USA Today to Mountain Bike, these excerpts paint a true, objective picture of all that Bend has to offer.

		“People describe Bend – with its easy access to an array of outdoor activities, including skiing, biking, white-water rafting and kayaking, hiking, golf and world-class fly-fishing – as ‘the new Boulder,’ a reference to Colorado’s athletic mecca. Mount Bachelor, one of the Northwest’s top ski resorts, is just 22 miles from downtown, and the city is surrounded by volcanic peaks. Benders take the outdoors – and their beer – seriously, with 71 parks, 48 miles of in-town trails and four microbreweries.” - USA Today, May 23, 2008
		“Whoever visits Bend, moves to Bend, people warned me. So frequently, in fact, that I took it to be the official motto of this always sunny central Oregon playground – a blessedly bipolar high-desert home base, where you can trail run along the rushing Deschutes River in the morning and hit the snowy slopes of Mt. Bachelor in the afternoon. My kind of town…Bend remains a decidedly unpretentious community, where folks prefer moonlight snowshoes over movies, and unfussy hotel rooms run about $100 a night.” - Sunset Magazine, February 2008
		“Maybe it’s something in the water, or maybe there’s a superathlete molecule in the air; more than likely, it’s some magical property in the beer. Whatever the reason, Bend has become the porch of preference for some of mountain biking’s big dogs. Straddling the banks of the Deschutes River with the Cascade Mountains to the west and Oregon’s high-desert plateau to the east, Bend is a year-round playground for all species of adventure-sports athlete. While terrain, talent and climate easily make it one of the premier adventure-lifestyle communities in the country, it’s the beer that really sets Bend apart.” - Mountain Bike, June 2007
		“Every place has its season – when living there makes you feel blessed. In Bend, one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, the showcase season happens to be, well, all of them. Take a midsummer night. It’s light until nearly 9:30pm, plenty of time to lob Wolly Buggers into crisp holes on the Deschutes River after work or hop on a bike to catch Beck at the amphitheater. You can ski through May and mountain bike all year and 10,000-foot volcanoes dominate the skyline. And there’s a lot of good beer: five breweries for 67,000 people, plus swanky restaurants, art walks, and film festivals.” - Outside Magazine, August 2007
		“Quietly lurking in the middle of Oregon, the town of Bend is a Boulder, Colorado, in the making. It is a place of unabashed outdoor worship. Residents and vacationers come to Bend because they like to ski, bike, golf, climb, kayak, fish, hike – and some will knock all those off in just one week. A classic Bend summer evening rolls in with a fuchsia-heavy, orange-tinged sunset that plunges into deep purples framed by clusters of Lodgepole pine and Douglas fir trees, with Mount Bachelor and the western Cascades silhouetted in the distance.” - Seattle Metropolitan, February 2008
		“With a proliferation of fine-dining restaurants, day spas, art galleries, and boutiques, the former mill town has attained a stellar reputation as one of the West’s vacation hot spots – a four-season, multisport haven where local diehards like to brag about being able to ski 25,000 vertical feet on Mount Bachelor before lunch and then go golfing or mountain biking in the afternoon. Outdoor retailer REI anchors the Old Mill District, a cosmopolitan mixed-use development with restaurants, shops, galleries, and the 96-room AmeriTel Inn, whose stone-and timbered lobby feels like the great room of a grand mountain lodge.” - VIA Magazine, January/February 2007
		“For the ambitious residents of central Oregon, winter does not liken to hibernation. Oregon’s heartland, located between the base of the Cascade Range and the expansive high desert, spreads out around the upscale city of Bend, epitomizing loveliness and outdoor opportunities. In the summer, locals pursue a frenzied excess of biking, hiking, golf and boating. When the snow flies, those endeavors simply segue into a similarly hyperactive pursuit of skiing, snowshoeing and sledding. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself pursuing the region’s truly most arduous activity – keeping up with the locals.” - Skywest Magazine, November/December 2007