Winter is what you make it.

In Central Oregon it can be either four (OK, six) months of slick sidewalks, sniffles and progressive cabin fever or it can be six (OK, seven) months of great fun in the big outdoors. Skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, dog sledding.

Dog sledding?

The key to getting through winter without going a little nuts is to embrace the heck out of it.

Still, long about this time every year, some of us get a wee bit gorged on a steady diet of white. It is possible to find a change of hue. And it can do you and that attitude of yours a world of good.

You’ve got to love junipers.

If you’ve not explored the country west of Redmond and Terrebonne, a sunny winter’s day is not a bad time to do it.

The loop drive from Redmond north to Terrebonne, west past Lower Bridge on the Deschutes River, south on Buckhorn Road and then east on Highway 126 back over the Deschutes at Cline Falls takes you through some classic Central Oregon scenery, and, if you choose the right day, you?ll find more patches of dirt than snow.

You can do the trip as either a leisurely drive without the white knuckles of higher elevation travel this time of year (although a high clearance rig is recommended; the day we drove the loop, Buckhorn Road was pretty muddy) or make some strategic stops to get the blood flowing to your extremities again.

The Borden Beck Wildlife Preserve at Lower Bridge is a logical place to stretch your legs. The Deschutes flows at a fair clip here. A trail runs upstream along the north side of the river where you’ll surely see ducks, geese, resident songbirds and more than a few junipers.

Back in the vehicle heading west, you’ll get several dramatic views of the Cascades if the clouds aren’t too thick. We turned left on Buckhorn and continued across Highway 126.

This area, a honeycomb of rutted dirt roads and trails, is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to motorcycles. But no buzzing engines this afternoon so we decided to unload the mountain bikes and enjoy a rare midwinter ride.

Snow wasn’t a problem, but dirt the consistency of brown sugar made it a tough go in places.

We rode about a mile west and up to a ridge where we gazed out over a sea of – what else – junipers. In the background, we could see from Mount Bachelor to Mount Hood and every major peak in between.

On the way back, east on 126, Cline Falls State Park is also a good place to stop before you roll into Redmond and back to civilization. The river that runs through this nine-acre park bounded by canyon rims takes on a whole new look this time of year.

Jim Witty can be reached at 541-617-7828 or jwitty@bendbulletin.com.