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Mother’s Day in the High Desert The luxury resorts of Central Oregon are a mom’s best friend written by James Sinks REMEMBER WHEN mom used to take you to the playground? This Mother’s Day—or any day, really—you can return the favor. And when it comes to choosing the right playground, few places on the planet tout more satisfying options than Central Oregon, where a seemingly endless menu of recreation, restaurant, and relaxation options await moms of every age, interest and mobility. Here, happy trails are everywhere, from ski trails to bike trails to river trails to hiking trails, and you can even hop onto the Bend Ale Trail and sample a smorgasbord of breweries. If mom likes clubs as much as diamonds, the area boasts two golf courses ranked highly as girls’ trip destinations by Golf Digest. And if she needs to relax, unroll a yoga mat or unwind at any of dozens of upscale spas and salons. Once known for smoke-belching sawmills and wide-open ranches, the high desert on the east flank on the Cascades began its tourism transformation with the arrival of ski lifts on Mt. Bachelor in 1958. Today, the visitor industry largely drives the economy in and surrounding Bend, Redmond, Prineville and Sisters.
And just as the best playgrounds will have adrenalineinducing slides and jungle gyms, Central Oregon owes its reputation as a world-class tourism hub partly to the destination resorts that began dotting the local landscape around 1970, when Black Butte Ranch opened near Sisters and Sunriver opened on the site of a former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers camp south of Bend. Today, Central Oregon is home to six such resorts including Brasada Ranch, which earned the nod as the best in the western U.S. by Condé Nast Traveler. Another resort is on the drawing board near Redmond. While they have different price points, the resorts all feature lodging, golf, restaurants, pools, and Instagram-worthy views. And mimosas. In fact, mom won’t even need to step foot off the property—but it’s also not far from any of them to Bend, where mom can follow the example of legendary Klondike Kate, a one-time vaudeville singer and dancer who lived downtown from 1917 to the 1950s and was known for being both generous and for always living her best life.
Old Mill District
Mother’s Day begins in Central Oregon at the Old Mill District and shopping at upscale shops.
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1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
MAY | JUNE 2022
