Bend

Bend's transformation from a lumber town to an outdoor recreation destination is one of the Pacific Northwest's great economic pivots. The collapse of the timber industry in the late 1980s forced reinvention, and Bend leveraged its dry, sunny climate 300+ clear days per year and proximity to volcanic landscapes and the Cascades to build a tourism economy. Mount Bachelor, 22 miles southwest of town, is one of the highest ski areas in the Pacific Northwest with 4,320 vertical feet across 3,683 acres; in summer the Palmer chairlift still runs for mountain biking and panoramic views. The Deschutes River runs through Bend's urban core, offering class III white-water kayaking in Riverbend Park and a riverside trail system for cycling and walking. Newberry National Volcanic Monument south of Bend encompasses two caldera lakes (Paulina and East Lake), a 7,700-year-old obsidian flow, and the Lava Cast Forest a forest of ancient trees smothered by lava and preserved as hollow molds. Bend has more craft breweries per capita than almost any city in the US; Deschutes Brewery, founded in 1988, is the city's flagship and one of the largest craft breweries in the country.