There are Bend souvenirs, and there are BEND SOUVENIRS. The first camp includes the ol’ standbys like a Bend ballcap or a soy candle with high desert scents, and #nojudgment—we sell gobs of them in the Bend Visitor Center. But then there are those one-of-a-kind items that transport you and your senses back to our cool mountain town, meaning you can take home a little piece of Bend. Here are seven ways to up your souvenir game.

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7. Souvenirs are (an) art

Few keepsakes are as unique as one-of-a-kind art to remind you of a sunset, a river, or how you felt while you were here. The Workhouse sells paintings, drawings, metal work, textiles, jewelry, and more—but look for pieces by Karen Eland, who paints with local craft beer and coffee, just like that perfect pint or cuppa at Bellatazza. (Local artists line up to get their works on the walls at Lone Pine Coffee Roasters, too.) You’ll also find dreamy art by Megan Myers, who captures Bend’s outdoor spirit with colorful, whimsical paintings.

Take it up a notch and make your own souvenir at AD Glass and Design, where you can try glassblowing, or at Freak’n Art, which offers drop-in watercolor and ink classes. DIY Cave has workshops like jewelry-making, leather tooling, and blacksmithing. Nothing screams Bend more than a hand-forged bottle opener you made from flaming-hot steel.

6. Back to the future

What’s better than all those giggles gained on a Sun Country Tours whitewater rafting trip you just concluded? Giving yourself the gift of the future with a gift certificate to do it all over again. Maybe your summer moonlight canoe session with Wanderlust Tours was so freakin’ epic that you can’t wait to do their winter moonlight snowshoe tours six months from now. Round out your plans to return with gift cards for a luxurious stay at the Oxford, recently named one of the best hotels in the country, paired with a low-key evening sampling the food carts at Midtown Yacht Club or go bigger with the 14-hour, bone-in duck confit with a cardamom-port reduction at Jackalope Grill. 

5. Put a steak in it

Bend has no shortage of great places to have a picnic with three farmers markets—The Bend Farmer’s Market, the NorthWest Crossing Farmers Market, and Worthy Farmers Market—to provision you properly. Take some of that goodness home with you; specialty items like jams and jellies, local honey, baked goods, and spices and salts from Sakari Farms travel especially well, as do locally-made sauces and syrups (all of which you’ll find in abundance at the markets). If you’ve got a cooler, stuff it full of grass-fed steaks or locally-raised lamb from one of our amazing Central Oregon ranchers. Grill ‘em up at home to enjoy with the sides you’ve selected as you toast to an epic vacay with a bottle of mead from Lazy N Ranch.

4. One for the road

Bend’s distilleries infuse a taste of the high desert into their creations using local ingredients like juniper berries and filtering vodka through lava rock. A bottle from Crater Lake Spirits or Oregon Spirit Distillers’ flavor-packed dry gin will transport you back with a single sniff.

You’ll also find great souvenirs along the Bend Ale Trail. Snag a rare, barrel-aged bottle from Deschutes Brewery’s Cellar Door Society or sample wild yeast brews from Funky Fauna Artisan Ales. Ale Apothecary crafts all-natural wild, sour, and spontaneous beers, while Compassion Kombucha offers small-batch, zero-proof kombucha made with premium tea and organic fruit.

3. Take the High Desert home for the holidays

Since 1982, the High Desert Museum has been one of Central Oregon’s top family attractions, and for good reason. With 135 acres and more than 100,000 square feet of exhibit space, it’s a great spot to get a close-up view of local history as well as native wildlife like otters, porcupines, and raptors. Some of my family’s favorite Bend memories were made at the High Desert Museum, which is where I also got one of my favorite keepsakes—a cute owl that hangs on our holiday tree each year to remind me of the first time the husband and I took the kids there nearly 15 years ago.  

2. T it up

There’s a reason the T-shirt is an iconic memento. A long-sleeved shirt from a Bend cyclocross event I watched more than a decade ago is still one of my most treasured articles of clothing. I swear I still hear the clang of cowbells each time I wear it. There’s a hoodie in my closet from Bend Cider Company that I’d love to be buried in because it’s so comfy-cozy and reminds me of the girlfriends’ outing (and the blackberry ancho cider) I enjoyed when I bought it. My current favorite Bend tee is one from Mumford and Sons’ first North American tour stop this summer, which took place at our own Hayden Homes Amphitheater. So go ahead, get the shirt. It’ll remind you of where you were every time you open your dresser.

1. Make it last forever 

Permanently tattooing a Bend memory on your meat suit isn’t for everyone—but it might be the coolest souvenir you take home. My kid, Cedar Zagurski, is a talented tattoo artist at Sink or Swim Tattoo in Bend, and his Mother’s Day gift to me was a custom design representing the town where we became a family—er, that’s Bend! He even inked matching mountain-and-tree tattoos on both our feet, honoring the trails we’ve hiked since he was little.

Bend has a great lineup of tattoo shops, but if you’re thinking of inking, plan ahead. Booking in advance lets you collaborate with your artist on the perfect reminder—whether it’s a mountain silhouette or compass coordinates of a special spot. Just schedule your session for later in your trip so you won’t have to avoid rivers, lakes, and pools with fresh ink.