The BulleTin • Friday, January 8, 2021 B9
TOP PICKS :
WHERE TO EXPLORE
Tumalo Mountain — The
summer hike favorite is
also open to snowshoeing
and backcountry skiing
come the winter. The trail
may be hard to find given
the snow, so have the
route downloaded to your
smartphone before you
set out. Recent reports on
Alltrails.com give a good
powder report for adven-
turers taking the 3.8 mile
trail to one of the best
views in Central Oregon.
Wanoga Sno-park —
Consisting of both a snow
play area for sledding and
traditional sno-park for
cross-country skiing, fat-
biking and snowmobiling.
The snow has been piling
up and the sledding hill
isn’t as icy as it had been
earlier in the season, but
make sure you pack out
any broken sleds when
you head home. The sled-
ding area is unmonitored,
so tubing is at the user’s
own risk. Currently, the
shelter is closed to prevent
the spread of COVID-19.
Willamette Pass Ski Area
— The ski area 70 miles
south of Bend along State
Highway 58 has one of
the steepest skiing slopes
in the world, RTS which
measures in at up to 52%
pitch. It may have less
snow than it’s northern ski
area siblings, but that also
makes it less busy and with
555 acres of skiable area
(225 groomed acres) there
is plenty of powder to call
your own. All tickets and
rentals must be purchased
online prior to arrival at the
ski area.
a
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file photo
A light snow begins to fall as a group of sledders make their way up the hill at Wanoga Sno-park.
— Makenzie Whittle,
The Bulletin
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A few trails are shared with motorized vehicles at Edison Butte Sno-park, although most trails are not.
Edison Butte
Continued from B1
“If you live in Bend, you
know that there is (no snow)
there,” Morris said, follow-
ing an early afternoon 4-mile
snowshoeing trek. “I came here
with my wife and daughter on
Saturday, and we might come
up Thursday. We go a couple of
times per week.”
Beneath several feet of snow,
the lava beds in the Deschutes
National Forest are prominent
throughout the trails. For those
who have only experienced
Edison Butte in the winter, it
creates curiosity about what
lies beneath the blanket of the
snow.
“It was really nice to hike
this trail in the summer or
spring when there is no snow
so that we could see the type
of terrain that we are moving
over,” Rutherford said.
Another perk of the park
is that pets do not have to be
Edison Butte Sno-park
From Bend: Travel west on Cascade Lakes Highway for 19 miles, past
Wanoga Sno-park, then drive 4 miles south on Forest Road 45.
tethered to a leash: They are
free to run around and en-
joy the snow as well. That is
not the case at all sno-parks
in the Deschutes National
Forest.
“This is my favorite park be-
cause you can take your dog,
there are shelters everywhere
so you can have a fire, hang out
— sometimes I’ll pack a lunch
and drinks and hang out,” said
Liz Bluhm, an avid cross-coun-
try skier from Bend. “But my
favorite part is being able to
bring my dog, and she can run
around off-leash.”
For first-time cross-coun-
try skiers, Edison Butte might
be a tough place to learn, says
Bluhm. Unlike places like
Meissner and Swampy sno-
parks, the trails at Edison Butte
are not groomed.
“Lot’s of ups and downs,”
she said. “I wouldn’t really
recommend it for beginner
cross-country skiers; the trails
aren’t groomed so it feels a lit-
tle more in the backcountry so
you feel more remote more so
than other parks.”
If you are seeking solitude
in the forest, weekends at Edi-
son Butte might not be the best
time to visit.
“I came up on a Sunday
and drove around the parking
lot and just ended up going
home because there were too
many people,” Rutherford said.
“There is no point in going to
the forest if there is going to be
crowds of people.”
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
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