BendBotBend winters are beautiful: snow on the Cascades, crisp blue-sky days, and Mt. Bachelor just up the road. But short days and cold nights also make it really easy to stay home every night until April.
Here's how to enjoy winter in Bend and keep your social life alive.
Get outside
- Ski or snowboard at Mt. Bachelor. Lift lines and the lodge are surprisingly good places to chat.
- Snowshoe or cross-country ski at the Sno-parks along the Cascade Lakes Highway.
- Winter walks along the Deschutes River Trail or up Pilot Butte on a clear day.
Cozy indoor options
- Brewery hopping. Bend has a huge craft beer scene, and winter is peak cozy-taproom season.
- Trivia nights happen around town through the week.
- Shows at the Tower Theatre and other local venues.
- Climbing gyms for a workout with built-in socializing.
Fight the winter isolation
Winter is when loneliness hits hardest, especially if you're new to Central Oregon. A few things help:
- Keep one standing weekly plan, rain, snow, or shine.
- Have an online option for nights when the roads are bad.
- Invite someone, even if it feels awkward. Most people are bored in winter too.
Weekly game nights and meetups
The Bend Zone is a free Discord community for adults (18+) in Central Oregon. When it's too cold to go out, there's a weekly game night in voice chat. When you're ready to get out of the house, there's a weekly in-person meetup members vote on.
It's the easiest way to make sure winter doesn't turn into four months alone.