EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

BEND is easily the most useful base for visiting central Oregon, giving access both to Cascade grandeur and the eerie landscape of Oregon's Lava Lands. Packed with restaurants, microbreweries and outdoor gear shops, its roots are firmly set in outdoor pursuits. Greyhound buses from Portland and Eugene arrive a mile east of town at Hwy-20. The visitors center is on Hwy-97, just north of the center (tel 541/382-3221 or 1-800/905-2363, ), while the Central Oregon Welcome Center , 63085 N US-97 (tel 541/389-8799 or 1-800/800-8334, ), has brochures and accommodation listings. Beyond recreation, the area's main attraction is undoubtedly the High Desert Museum , 59800 US-97 (daily 9am-5pm; $8.50; ), a fascinating collection of artifacts from Native American and pioneer history, along with displays of regional flora and fauna, and a reconstructed pioneer homestead and sawmill out back.

Budget motels - often full - are strung out along US-97 (also known as Third Street), including the plain but clean Dunes Motel , 1515 NE Third St (tel 541/382-6811; $50-75). However, the compact town center, with its old villas dotting the banks of the Deschutes River, is a much more attractive destination and home to several smart B&Bs . Try the Lara House , 640 NW Congress St (tel 541/388-4064, ; $75-100), or the slightly pricier Sather House , 7 NW Tumalo Ave (tel 541/388-1065 or 1-888/388-1065, ; $100-130). The Bend Cascade Hostel , 19 SW Century Drive (tel 541/389-3813), has dorm beds for $15 and is only a short walk from the free ski shuttle to Mount Bachelor. You can camp in Tumalo State Park (tel 541/388-6055, ), a wooded dell by the Deschutes River five miles northwest along US-20, which offers the domed tents called yurts as well as large canvas-covered tepees (both $27).

Bend has some great restaurants and microbreweries . Pine Tavern Restaurant , 967 NW Brooks St (tel 541/382-5581), Deschutes Brewery and Public House , 901 SW Simpson St (tel 541/385-8606), and Bend Brewing , 1019 NW Brooks St (tel 541/383-1599), all serve microbrewed ales and stouts and solid American cuisine. West Side Café & Bakery , 1005 NW Galveston (tel 541/382-3426), has filling breakfasts and Cup of Magic , 1304 NW Galveston (tel 541/330-5539), has great coffee and baked goods.