Naturally, our answer to this question is GO FISHING. For visitors and locals, we offer great trips catered towards both beginners and experts. Check out our guided trips here.
After you’ve experienced your share of our amazing fisheries, it can be great to have a relaxed day on the Cascade Lakes. Elk Lake is an excellent place to lounge and soak up the beautiful Cascade mountains. It’s also excellent if you’re looking to rent a paddleboard or a canoe for the day.
If you’re visiting in the winter and the Cascades Lakes are snowed in, go have some winter fun up at Hoodoo or Mt. Bachelor. Even if you don’t ski or snowboard it’s lots of fun to get into the snow for a day of play.
Bend has a brewery for every 4,500 people. We like our beer around here and we like to think we have some pretty good choices. Cascade Lakes Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing, Deschutes Brewery, and Boneyard Brewing are some of our favorites but there are many more to visit while you’re in town.
Looking for a day of shopping? You won’t find much for indoor malls but we have some killer outdoor shopping centers. East cascades shopping center, The Old Mill, and Downtown Bend have some great stores and lots of restaurants to choose from.
We’ve got some amazing hiking trails in the area, too many to write about. A couple of good ones to check out are the Deschutes River trail, Shevlin Park, Green Lakes trailhead, Smith Rock State Park, and Riley Ranch Nature Preserve.
One of my favorite things to check out in the area is the High Desert Museum. It’s a great place to learn about the local flora and fauna, especially if you’ve got kids.
Still looking for something to do? Come hang out at the shop and ask for George, he loves sharing his fishing spots with as many people as he can.