Central Oregon’s Sunriver Resort, located about 15 minutes south of Bend, sprawls over 3,300 acres of beautiful mountain meadow and lodgepole pine forest. The planned, self-contained community of over 4,000 residences is renowned for its four golf courses, 35 miles of bike paths, and oodles of fair weather activities including tennis, volleyball, swimming, horseback riding, and canoeing on the gentle Deschutes River. There’s a small shopping mall, nature center, observatory, and an airstrip for private aircraft. Trout fishing, whitewater rafting and hiking in the adjacent National Forest are added draws. In summer, Sunriver’s population swells to over 20,000 vacationers, with the shrieks of children echoing through the trees.
Winter in Sunriver is a different scene. Located at about 4,200 feet elevation just east of the crest of the Cascade Range, the resort receives several feet of snow in a typical winter. The fairways, outdoor pools and tennis courts lie hidden beneath a white blanket from December through February in a typical year. The marina, stables, and many other concessions close for the winter season. The vast majority of homes, townhouses and condominiums sit winterized, dark and unoccupied, giving an eerie feeling.
But for winter recreationists, Sunriver makes an excellent base. The superlative ski slopes of Mount Bachelor are just a half-hour away, and the opportunities to cross-country ski, snowshoe, and snow-mobile nearby are almost limitless. The bike paths that weave through the resort are plowed for brisk pedaling and walking, and many of the art galleries, boutiques and eateries in the village remain open year-round. The architectural gem of Sunriver Lodge features guest rooms with mountain views, a four-star restaurant, and the cozy Owl’s Nest Bar – a welcome refuge from the chilly outdoors. Check out the historic Great Hall nearby, a remnant of WWII era US Army Camp Abbot that existed here long before the property was developed as a destination resort in the late 1960s.
When we visited Sunriver at the beginning of February, we experienced clear skies and temperatures that dipped into the teens early each morning. The roads and bike paths were bare, but six inches of crusty snow lay on the ground everywhere else. Construction was progressing on a new multi-million-dollar aquatic and recreation center, scheduled to fully open this May. The sledding and tubing hills inside the resort didn’t have quite enough snow.
We snowshoed through powder snow to the top of Edison Butte (4,590 feet) one day, a wooded ridge off of the highway about halfway to Mount Bachelor. There’s a developed Snow-Park there with trails for snowmobiling in one direction and cross-country skiing in another. Mount Bachelor, just five miles away, glistened under eight feet of snow. As conditions permit, the mountain often remains open for skiing and snowboarding until Memorial Day or later.
Sunriver is an impressive resort with a tremendous variety of lodging and recreational options. Located in the heart of Central Oregon, it is not far from Newberry Crater, Three Sisters Wilderness Area, Pacific Crest Trail, Crater Lake National Park, the High Desert Museum, Fort Rock and many other natural attractions.
Comments