Activities in Bend + The Cascades

Come for tree-trunk tables, antler chandeliers, and hand-carved rocking chairs; everything is crafted from local materials.

Brian's Windsurfing & Kitesurfing can point you in the right direction, and hook you up with equipment and instruction.

The guides at First Ascent will teach you the ABCs of climbing on the dramatic spires of Smith Rock, located just north of town.

Stop along the 35-mile Hood River Fruit Loop, where farm stands sell homemade, fruit-filled pastries.

The history behind this farm, set in the lush Hood River Valley east of Portland, is part of its particular charm; it was established in 1951 by Mamor

Don't leave Bend without visiting Mount Bachelor, which consistently tops ski bibles' lists of the finest peaks in the Northwest. In April, the powder

Stop at the Mount Hood National Forest Headquarters to find out what’s blooming (depending on the month, you might see lupine, columbine, purple foxgl

Head to the Old Mill District, where there are vast outposts of REI and Helly Hansen, as well as one-off boutiques like Vanilla (should your needs run

Musher Jerry Scdoris leads daily dog-sledding excursions.

Fly fisherman Peter Bowers, owner of the Patient Angler, swears that what he'll teach you in a 90-minute crash course would take you three years to le

The tiny café has a passionate following for its smoked-sea-salt bagels and its trademark “ocean rolls” (like a cinnamon roll, but with a cardamom kic

Rent an ATV for the dunes.

Sun Country Tours sends 20,000 people a year down the Big Eddy Thriller, a three-mile, roller coaster–like white-water stretch of the Deschutes River.

At 8 p.m., Bob Grossfeld, Sunriver's astronomer in residence, flicks a switch and retracts the roof of the Sunriver Observatory. Sidle up to one of 20

Bendistillery is an intimate space for sinking into a plush velvet armchair and sipping a DesertJuniperGin martini.

Peer at fossilized plants and bones on ranger-led walks.

Bend's cultural nexus is the Tower Theatre, a venue worth checking out any time of the year for eclectic dance, live theater, and performance goings-o

If tranquil water is more your speed, hire a guide at Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe and the only splashes you'll hear will be the ones your paddles make.

The company leads daily excursions to Boyd Cave, an 1,800-foot-long lava tube that snakes beneath the desert floor.

Golfers can make for Widgi Creek, a course designed by Robert Muir Graves that meanders among pines in scenic Deschutes National Forest.