Welcome to Central Oregon
The Perfect Blend of Comfort and Adventure
Central Oregon’s high desert offers year-round outdoor play for everyone! Its 300+ days of sunshine invite you to get out in nature and explore its various terrain ideal for every outdoor activity. Rock climb at Smith Rock, paddle board at Elk Lake, explore the Three Sisters mountains (Faith, Hope, and Charity), or ski at Mt. Bachelor of the Cascade Mountain Range. Hiking, camping, golfing, fishing, rock climbing, caving, river floating, paddleboarding, kayaking, snowboarding, skiing, and more can all be enjoyed with the beautiful Pacific Northwest mountains, forests, and grasslands as your backdrop.
While the natural wonders of the area await, Central Oregon also offers the perfect setting for raising a family with modern living comforts and opportunities, as well as top-notch schools and award-winning cultural highlights. The restaurants, brewery culture, locally-owned shops, museum, and local events add to our area's fantastic culture.
Central Oregon has it all. The only thing missing is you!
Central Oregon is for Everyone
But Especially Outdoors Lovers
Popular Central Oregon Activities
Outdoor Activities
Hiking, camping, and expansive dog-parks are just a few of the outdoor activities easily within reach in Central Oregon.
Shopping
Central Oregon boasts tons of family-owned stores and boutiques, each with a unique ambiance and products.
Local Dining
Discover both local flavors and authentic cuisine from across the world throughout the Central Oregon area.
Live Music
Central Oregon has many spaces for live music, from intimate local bars to the spacious Hayden Homes Aphitheater. We also have mutiple reccuring music festivals, like Sisters Folk Festival and the Cascade Equinox Festival.
Community Events
Enjoy community events and gatherings that range from food, live music, and vendor-centric to those that focus on the culture and arts of our area. The Fall Festival, Winter Festival, and Sunriver Holiday Traditions are just a few!
History, Arts, and Culture
Central Oregon is an area bursting with history and culture. With mutiple musuems that tie the past with modern living, as well as a thriving thespian and artist scene for preformace and fine art, there's no shortage of cultural excitement.
Outdoor Sports
Rock climing, bouldering, cycling, hunting, mountain biking, and club sports are just a few of the exciting activities that are enjoyed by our locals.
Water Activities
With mutiple lakes and rivers within reach, tubing, kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing, white water rafting, and more are fun ways to play in our local waters.
Winter Sports
Having Mt. Bachelor withing a short driving distance, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and more are in your own backyard!
Major Cities in Central Oregon
Bend
Being the biggest city in Central Oregon, Bend is a beautiful and historic city built right on the Deschutes River. Full of shopping, local and award-winning breweries, delicious restaurants, annual events, and more, Bend offers everything for those looking to live among the comforts of a smaller yet modern city. The Old Mill Shopping District, Downtown Area, and Hayden Homes Ampitheater are highlights for experiencing culture, dining, and local fun.
Sunriver
Sunriver is a resort community originally created in the 1960s that has grown to become the hidden gem of Central Oregon for visitors and residents alike. It's a great location for those who wish for resort-style amenities and tight-knit communities integrated into our natural landscape. Golf and winter sports enthusiasts appreciate this city for its professional golf courses and close proximity to Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort.
Sisters
Holding fast to its western town roots and appearance, Sisters is a small town full of character with notable cultural events like the Sisters Folk Festival, Sisters Quilt Show, and Sisters Rodeo. Its downtown area attracts many to experience wonderful boutiques, businesses, and delicious restaurants. Sisters has one of the best-performing school districts in the state, which is a highlight for young families.
Madras
At the North Edge of Central Oregon lies Madras, a growing city with beautiful high desert scenery and panoramic views of the Cascade Mountain Range. Like our other Central Oregon towns, the area offers many outdoor recreation opportunities including cycling, fishing, golf, hiking, and rockhounding. Sitting right on Hwy 20, it boasts many fantastic restaurants, shops, and accommodations, with a caring community that aims to provide a top-notch quality of life for all ages.
Redmond
Just North of Bend, Redmond is a charming city that calls itself the "HUB" of Central Oregon. With no shortage of tasty restaurants, award-winning breweries, local boutiques and shopping, luxe resorts, and relaxing RV parks, Redmond offers many of the same amenities of Bend with a small-town vibe. With the Deschutes County Fairgrounds and Bend/Redmond Airport right next door, this city is great for events and easy transportation.
La Pine
The rural city of La Pine is full of friendly locals who view the city as a vibrant place to live, work, and play — where “Passion is Our Nature.” While a smaller town, it boasts top-notch public services and an extensive calendar of community events that offer something for everyone, all year round. Their annual Rodeo and 4th of July events are ones that can't be missed!
Prineville
East of Redmond and Bend, Prineville provides a charming, rustic backdrop to its side of Central Oregon. With a small city center full of lovely shops, boutiques, restaurants, and other businesses, many of the residents enjoy its quieter and more rural setting. Prineville is a perfect setting for those who enjoy fishing, hiking, and more.
What's Central Oregon's History?
Rich in culture and historic events, Central Oregon has a history that is greatly appreciated and honored by its residents.
Setting the scene for our modern area, the Newberry Volcano initiated a series of eruptions 400,000 years ago that greatly shaped the current landscape. The Indigenous Peoples of Central Oregon (the Wasco [Chinookan], Tenino, Tygh, Wyam, John Day [Sahaptin], Warm Springs, and the Paiutes) made Central Oregon their home centuries ago, tending to the land and building the first communities of the area.
In the early 1800s, European immigrants began to make their way into Central Oregon. These settlers established industries to harvest the natural resources that the area had to offer, including the large logging industry that formed. In 1855, the immigrant leaders of the Oregon Territory negotiated treaties with the central and eastern Oregon Native Americans, leading to the creation of the Warm Springs Reservation. In 1930, the Warm Springs, Wasco, and Paiute tribes organized to form the Confederate Tribes of Warm Springs to operate under self-governance.
As logging communities and areas began to be incorporated into the territory as time progressed, an influx of additional residents came to the area after the expansion of railroads and lumber mills in 1920. By the mid to late 1900s, many of Central Oregon's modern cultural highlights and traditions started to form, such as the founding of the Sisters Rodeo (1940), Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort (1958), Sunriver Lodge (1968), Cascade Airshow (1970's), High Desert Museum (1982), and Deschutes Brewery (1988).
With such a long and rich history, Central Oregon and its residents work hard to give recognition and honor to our past and those who helped shape the land and community into what it is today. There are many locations dedicated to learning and remembering our history while celebrating the Central Oregon we know and love, and we encourage you to visit them!
