In the 1860s, pioneers heading from points east to Oregon’s rich farmlands west of the Cascades forded the Deschutes River at a place they came to call Farewell Bend. It was the last hospitable place they’d see for weeks to come as they faced the rigors of getting their wagons across the mountains.

Bend has since of course become a Meca for anyone who love the outdoors and wants to utilize it to the fullest and in the last ten years has been sought out by all types for it’s great shopping and spas.

Bend has two popular commercial centers-downtown and The Old Mill District.

The core downtown area is small yet contemporary and alive with shopping,  excellent dining and top current entertainment.  Amid the variety of restaurants and shops, there’s the Tower Theater, a renovated historic movie theater than presents nationally acclaimed music acts and theatrical events during the course of the year and 2 blocks for here is the Cascades Theatrical Company, offering a season of stage plays.

Just upriver from downtown, The Old Mill District lies on the ground once covered by timber mill operations. Today the District is a modern blend of  well known shops such as Banana Republic, Desperado and GAP and restaurants like Red Robin, Gregs Grill and Anthony’s  and the site of the open-air Les Schwab amphitheater noted for drawing top name musical acts such as Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt and Willy Neslon, to Bend during the summer and early fall.

Yet for all the creature comforts of dining, shopping and listening, Bend is still best known as an outdoor sports paradise. On the casual side that means a relaxed ride on anything that floats down the Deschutes River from above The Old Mill District to Drake Park near the heart of downtown in summer.

Beyond simple floating, Bend and environs attract whitewater rafters and kayakers to the upper reaches of the Deschutes River and recreational kayakers and canoeists to the High Cascade Lakes and calm stretches of the Deschutes.

Fly fishing opportunities abound in the Bend area and when not actually on a river or lake, flyfishers can head to the casting ponds in The Old Mill District to hone their fly presentation skills.

Off the water and on wheels, Bend is considered one of the top towns in America for both road and mountain bike riding. It’s also a place where riding around on an old cruiser bike has become a local art form.

On foot, trail runners and hikers have endless trail options in and near Bend. There’s a slate of local running events that keep competitive road and trail runners happy.

Then there’s golf, and plenty of it. Over two dozen courses grace the Bend area ranging from world famous like Crosswater (site of the Jeld Win Tradition Legends Tour tournament) near the Sunriver Resort south of town to local eighteens geared to family and casual play.

Come winter, Bend is Oregon’s center for winter sports. The original Bachelor Butte ski area has become Mount Bachelor and continues to draw people who like its family atmosphere and exceptional snow conditions and the many terrain parks for freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

The cross-country ski options, from machine-groomed trails to un-tracked wandering, are also a huge draw. Then there’s the incomparable backcountry skiing in the Three Sisters Wilderness area, one of the easiest to access wilderness areas in the U.S.

Beyond the wilderness boundaries are hundreds of miles of groomed and un-groomed but well marked, snowmobile trails near Bend and throughout the Central Oregon region.

Yet for all the recreational activities in or near Bend, there are also dozens of festivals, parades and events every season of the year that keep people coming back to a place that once was just a ford in the river.