I spent the past week with my family at Sunriver, Oregon. This premier planned residential and resort community located in Central Oregon offers activities aplenty for visitors and residents, no matter the time of year. Sitting on the drier side of the Cascade Mountains at an elevation of 4,100 feet, it boasts 300 days of sunshine a year and offers warm, sunny weather in the summer; sparkling, crisp autumns; and dry, powdery snow in winter. This part of the state has always appealed to those who live west of the mountains, where winters can be long, wet and dreary.

The region is easily accessed by road via U.S. Highway 97, running north to south from Washington state to California, and numerous state and U.S. highways running west to east over the mountains. The drive here from any direction offers vistas of high desert, forests, snowcapped mountains and fascinating volcanic landscapes. If you fly in, daily commercial flights arrive at Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM) (just north of Bend, about 35 miles from Sunriver) from Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City via Alaska Airlines, American, Avelo, Delta and United Airlines. Once here, a plethora of outdoor activities pleases any adventurer, from rock climbing to kayaking, skiing to fishing, hiking to spelunking. And if more leisurely pursuits appeal, check out the thriving culinary and beverage scene here; Bend was an early leader in craft brewing, and distilleries have more recently popped up everywhere.

The crown jewel for accommodations in the area, Sunriver Resort

Photo 320732315 © Victoria Ditkovsky | Dreamstime.com

boasts 3,300 acres and some 4,177 units, ranging from Resort Lodge and Lodge Village guestrooms to condos and private vacation homes and exclusive rental residences. The complex began with groundbreaking in 1968 with the intent of fostering a unique balance between development and nature. Spread out beside the Deschutes River  and within meadows   and stands of tall pines, the community’s homes and businesses line two-lane roads (top speed limit is 25 mph), with plenty of space between each. Also connecting the various neighborhoods and amenities are some 40 miles of paved bike/walking paths, with little elevation gain, making for a very family-friendly way to explore the area.

Within the community lie three 18-hole golf courses and a 9-hole family-friendly links course; tennis and pickleball courts; a marina where one can rent kayaks, canoes, rafts and paddle boards (lifejackets included); horseback riding trails; a bike rental shop; and two pool complexes. One, The Cove, is exclusively for resort guests, while the other, the SHARC (Sunriver Homeowners Association Recreation Center) is open to all, with homeowners having free passes to the facility. It boasts both indoor and outdoor pools, a lazy river and water slides, as well as disc golf and a tubing park in the winter. Some unique features are an observatory for gazing at the stars (the high desert air and lack of light pollution makes this a natural); and a Nature Center, staffed by naturalists and offering interactions with local fauna, activities for kids and a botanical garden. Of course, a spa on site offers all manner of pampering, and fitness buffs have access to well-equipped facilities and a wide range of classes and workouts. Oh, there’s also a privately owned, regional airport accommodating private craft and charters that offers free shuttle service to the lodge.

The Village at Sunriver, the commercial heart of the resort, offers plenty of distractions as well. The open-air mall has its share of boutiques and galleries, restaurants, coffee shops and watering holes, but it also offers activities such as mini golf, a rock-climbing wall, an enormous bounce house, bumper cars and a scale-model train for a quick ride around the area. In summer you can watch free movies on Tuesday nights and enjoy live musical performances, while ice skating is offered in winter.

Our visit, at just five days, didn’t begin to give us enough time to explore and sample everything the resort has to offer, but it certainly gave us enough of a taste to know we’d like to return for more!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor