Bend has its Deschutes River Trail, its Shevlin Park, its Pilot Butte.

I had a vague notion that there was also a place in Redmond where you could hike, walk your dog, ride your bike and enjoy nature that didn’t necessitate an act of Congress or a full tank of gas.

I recently tracked ‘er down and felt as if I had made a significant discovery (I’ve lived in Redmond for four years, but I don’t get out much). Dry Canyon Trail belongs right up there with Bend’s best as a so-near-yet-so-far destination. A dozen steps from the parking lot and you feel as if you’ve left suburbia behind even though homes line the rims of the cleft.

There are actually two trails. From the parking lot at the north end of the canyon, there’s a paved path that runs 1.9 miles south to Fir Avenue. A ”soft” or dirt trail parallels the pavement to the west and makes an interesting loop.

The walk (or ride) takes you along the bottom of a juniper-clogged slot that bisects the north sector of Redmond. Along the way, the soft trail snakes in and out of juniper stands and brings you close to the basalt canyon wall in several places.

It’s the kind of place where one could see a coyote, a mule deer or a porcupine. In two trips there over the weekend though, we didn’t.

But the whys and hows of this big hole in Redmond kept us captivated.

According to an informational kiosk back at the trailhead, the lava that flowed through Dry

It erupted from vents on the north flank of Newberry Volcano, probably around 400,000 years ago, and moved north. Beyond Redmond, the viscous lava flowed into the Deschutes and Crooked River canyons. The Deschutes River flow made it as far as where Lake Billy Chinook is today. The flows that entered the Crooked River drainage stagnated and solidified at Crooked River Ranch.

The jumbled rocky rim of Dry Canyon is made up of rimrock basalt that flowed over the Deschutes Formation. The canyon floor is volcanic debris ranging from fine ash to big chunks covered by soil formed by sedimentation and decomposition of plant life.

On nice spring days, you won’t be alone on the trails, but they’re big enough to accommodate a wide mix of users, from walkers with leashed dogs to horseback riders (on the shoulder of the paved path).

The City of Redmond is scheduled to complete a one mile extension of the paved path from Fir south to Highland Avenue in the summer of ’03, which will give users almost six miles of trail to work with, out and back.

If you go:

– GETTING THERE: Drive north on Highway 97 and turn left on Pershall Road and left again at the City of Redmond Dry Canyon Trail sign. Then take the right fork at the City of Redmond Water Pollution Control facility to the parking lot.

– ROUND-TRIP DISTANCE: About four miles.

– DIFFICULTY: Flat terrain; easy to moderate, depending on distance.

– ACCESS: Hikers, bikers, runners.

– PERMITS: None required.

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