From pristine ski slopes to the seemingly endless hiking and mountain biking trails and the myriad rivers and lakes, Central Oregon is an adventurer’s paradise. Many people visit or move to Bend, Redmond, La Pine, Sisters or Prineville to be surrounded by these opportunities, which have become increasingly important during the coronavirus pandemic as folks look for ways to decompress while maintaining social distance.
“I think if you’re just an active outdoor individual, competitive or not, there’s just so much variation in stuff you can do,” said Bend’s Jesse Thomas, a pro triathlete who recently retired. “Now that I’m not racing with the same structure that I needed when I was racing full time, I’m just taking more advantage of Central Oregon.”
Even triathletes, who are busy swimming, biking and running, can find additional outdoor activities in our region. Thomas said he has recently taken up mountain biking, nordic skiing, kayaking and rock climbing.
But the outdoors in Central Oregon is more than just the access to mountains, parks, trails, rivers and lakes.
“I think it dictates the mindset and the culture of the whole town,” Thomas said. “Beyond just people’s individual activities. As a business owner, that’s where I’ve seen it the most, how it filters into the business community, in terms of what the core values are for businesses around here. There’s just lots of like-minded people in our community. There are people you train with and people out doing the same stuff you’re doing. You’ve got support systems as well, and good, knowledgeable retail shops.”
Outdoor activities ‘a lifesaver’ during the pandemic
Since the pandemic halted normal life in March, Central Oregon locals have taken to the outdoors in increasing numbers, looking for ways to escape the stress of the pandemic.
“It’s a lifesaver,” Thomas said about exercising outside. “I think I hurt myself by over-decompressing if you want to call it that. Everything started to bottle up, and everybody got really stressed out. I was definitely riding and running a bunch. I think that’s super important, to be able to get outside in nature when you’re facing something like this.”
While some state parks and developed recreation areas on forest lands closed in late March, we never really lost access to our beloved outdoors. The trails themselves never closed, and most state parks, as well as trailheads, day-use areas, and boat ramps on the Deschutes and Ochoco national forests, reopened last week. (However, many campgrounds remain closed for now.)
Trails are perhaps the key ingredient that makes Central Oregon an outdoor mecca. Hikers, mountain bikers, runners, backpackers, horseback riders and mountain climbers all use them. Anglers use trails to reach their favorite fishing holes. Rock climbers use trails to reach their vertical routes.
The Central Oregon Trail Alliance — a volunteer organization that coordinates with land management agencies — works hard to build and maintain many of these trails.
Woody Keen, the trails program coordinator for COTA, sees some silver linings in the pandemic.
“As we’ve seen a rush to public lands, whether that’s state parks or whatever the case may be, we’ve seen the land management agencies have to react and shut them down,” Keen said. “But all of that said how important public lands are — and how important trails are. We’re seeing people really needing that. More people are getting their exercise outdoors. And that really is better for them … sunshine, vitamin D, breathing fresh air. Not to say that running on a treadmill is bad, but running outside is better.
“We’ve seen a lot of people flocking to bike shops, nationwide and locally. We’ve seen a flurry of people rediscover biking and that’s a good thing.”
Keen also said that local mountain bikers have been in a more “exploratory” mood, discovering new routes and riding more forest roads than singletrack, which makes for easier social distancing.
“A bunch of forest roads that you might not have ridden otherwise, well now you are riding them,” Keen said. “I think that’s a good thing. It’s creating new options and giving people new places to go to.”
Keen adds that locals are also enjoying trails and the outdoors without as many tourists in the area. He estimates that while during a normal summer weekend the breakdown would be 50-50 tourists and locals on the trails, now it is about 80% or 90% locals.
“But a lot of people are reporting that trails are busy, there’s no question about that,” he said. “I would say there has been an increase in use.”
Anglers get outside
As hikers, mountain bikers and trail runners flock to the trails, anglers are also flocking to their favorite fishing spots. Most of the high Cascade lakes southwest of Bend are now snow and ice free.
“It depends on the location, but certain areas, like Wickiup Reservoir, have been very popular,” said Brett Hodgson, a Bend-based fisheries biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “And a number of the streams are seeing increased activity as well. People have time on their hands and when the weather is nice, they want to get out and take advantage of the excellent angling opportunities we have in the area.”
Hodgson adds that Crane Prairie Reservoir, as well as East and Paulina lakes in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, should be fishing well now for rainbow trout and kokanee.
“Many, many opportunities are available to anglers within an hour of travel,” he said. “We’re encouraging folks to stay local.”
Hodgson has lived in Central Oregon for 23 years and has watched it turn into an outdoor destination for more and more people.
“There’s a lot of diverse opportunities,” he said. “The trade-off on that is there are considerably more people taking advantage of those opportunities than there were 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. While we encourage people to take advantage of the opportunities, as there becomes more and more of us, it really emphasizes the need to do so in a responsible manner.”
