THE CULT OF CULTUS

Published 5:00 am Sunday, August 3, 2008

CULTUS LAKE —

It’s less than an hour’s drive from downtown Bend, but it seems a world away.

Glacially formed Cultus Lake is a mecca for water-sports lovers of all ages. The mitten-shaped lake, 3½ miles long and a little over a mile wide, nestles at 4,668 feet elevation. Tree-covered Cultus Mountain rises a couple of thousand feet higher on the south side of the lake, and Mount Bachelor and South Sister seem to be within shouting distance to the north.

Cultus offers trophy-size mackinaw to anglers, shoreline kayaking and canoeing to visitors who like the swish of a paddle, motorboating and jet skiing to those who feel a need for speed.

“This is the only natural, spring-fed lake on the Cascade Lakes Highway to allow this level of water sports,” said Sandie Campbell, one of the owners of the Cultus Lake Resort. “Cultus is 230 feet deep, the water is 68 degrees and very clear … and there’s no speed limit on the lake.”

A family resort

Family-owned and -operated Cultus Lake Resort is the hub of activity. Its 23 rustic cabins, open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, lure guests not only from Central Oregon but from the Willamette Valley and, especially, the Portland-Vancouver area.

Most of the cabins sleep at least four, and all but a quartet of the units have furnished kitchens, making this a bargain for Bend-area travelers seeking a comfortable getaway without high fuel expense.

A casual restaurant serves three meals per day, attracting resort guests as well as day visitors and folks staying at a nearby Deschutes National Forest campground. Most days, the lunch-dinner menu is restricted to gourmet burgers and specialty sandwiches, but on Friday and Saturday nights, nearly everyone opts for an all-you-can-eat dinner of old-fashioned, barbecued pork ribs with baked beans, cole slaw and corn bread muffins.

Visitors frequently request recipes, Campbell said.

“I could tell you how we make the beans,” she said, “but the rib sauce is my husband’s recipe. If I told you how we made those, I’d have to kill you.”

Weekend residence

Dan and Sandie Campbell and Seth and Jennee Elliff are the owners of the resort, which has seen only four sets of proprietors since it opened in 1954. They are in their 11th season here.

Jennee Elliff is the Campbells’ daughter; she and husband Seth, her former high-school sweetheart from Eatonville, Wash., have two children, Maya, 7, and Blake, 5, who also spend every summer day on the lake.

When I arrived for a weekend stay at Cultus Lake Resort, two miles off the Cascade Lakes Highway at Mile 46, I found an unobtrusive lodge, painted rust red and surrounded by beds of colorful flowers. The ponytailed Dan Campbell greeted me at the front desk in a Harley-Davidson T-shirt. To my left was a small shop with convenience foods, fishing gear and souvenirs. To my right was the restaurant.

Straight out the door was a flagstone patio overlooking a lush green lawn and, beyond, a lakeside beach. Toddlers in water wings splashed in the water beneath their parents’ watchful gaze, while older children enjoyed excursions in paddle boats. Farther to the left was the marina, where Seth Elliff was distributing life jackets to motorboaters and explaining the mechanics of jet boating to speed freaks.

The cabins, in eight lakeside or lake-view blocks, were off to my right. I claimed my key for Unit 2 and opened the door to my weekend home. Wood paneled and pleasantly if simply furnished, the room had a private bedroom and a second bed in its “great room,” as well as a full bathroom, kitchen and spacious dining area. Sandie Campbell described it as “executive camping at its best.”

Home-style dining

I brought cereal and fruit for two breakfasts, Tuna Helper for an easy dinner. But I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to enjoy the resort’s “world-famous” ribs for my arrival dinner.

Outside the dining room, resort employee Dane Lynch, a young Bend man working his third consecutive summer at Cultus Lake, was slathering full racks of meat with Dan Campbell’s special honey barbecue sauce and turning the pork ribs on an old-fashioned grill.

I took a seat at the counter, where Jennee Elliff delivered a plate of Cultus Lake’s finest. The meat was so tender that it literally fell off the bones when I touched it with a fork. One serving was not enough.

Jennee encouraged me to return to Cultus next year in late May, when the resort hosts its annual “Big Mac” fishing derby. She pointed to a mackinaw, or lake trout, mounted on the back wall of the dining room. The 2008 winner reeled in an 18-pound, 12-ounce mackinaw and won a $2,000 first prize, she said, adding that fish as large as 28 pounds have been taken from the little lake.

Mackinaw, I learned, are the largest and heaviest member of the trout family. They share the lake with small rainbow trout, stocked annually, and occasional brook trout and mountain whitefish … many of which become food for the carnivorous macs.

Water play

Slathered with sunscreen, I spent most of my Saturday on the lake. In the morning, I paddled a sleek kayak down the southern shore, admiring the surrounding old-growth forest of Douglas fir, ponderosa and white pine. Mallards scattered as I dipped into the water. A doe and her offspring stared at me through the undergrowth. An osprey soared overhead. The serenity infected me with a sense of peace I don’t often find in the city.

In the afternoon, after a burger in the resort restaurant, I took a motorboat out to explore the unpopulated west end of Cultus Lake. In a pleasant campground amid the evergreens, boaters and their families had set up tent camps far from the recreational vehicles in the east-end campground from which they had launched their vessels.

Some were water-skiing behind high-velocity boats. Others were taking advantage of a typical afternoon breeze to unfurl the sails of their yawls and sloops. From shore, a group of mountain bikers on a 12-mile loop ride around the lake and Cultus Mountain waved as I passed.

With a few quiet minutes at the marina, Seth Elliff was out on the lake, riding the waves on his yellow jet ski. Abrupt and playful turns sent rooster-tail clouds of spray into the crisp, clear summer air. Elliff whooped as he steered the SeaDoo in a series of figure eights.

Back at the resort, Charlyn Eschette, of Eugene, was enjoying a full week’s stay with her two children and a couple of other families.

“I came here last year and had such a wonderful time, I couldn’t wait to return with my kids,” she said as she answered a question from her son, who was headed out to fish from the lakeshore with a couple of new friends.

“I imagine I’ll be here every summer from now on.”

Visiting Cultus Lake EXPENSES INFORMATION HOW TO GET THERE

• Gas, 89 miles (round-trip) @ $4.25/gallon $15.13

• Lodging (2 nights), Cultus Lake Resort $270

• Friday night rib dinner $23.45

• Groceries for two breakfasts and one dinner $22.34

• Kayak rental (two hours) $20

• Saturday lunch $12.45

• Motorboat rental (two hours) $30

TOTAL $393.37

If you go

Cultus Lake Resort. Mile 46, Cascade Lakes Highway (P.O. Box 262, Bend 97709); 541-389-3230, 800-616-3230, www.cultuslakeresort.com. Rates from $80 (without kitchen), from $135 (with kitchen).

It’s 48 miles to Cultus Lake Resort from downtown Bend via Century Drive and the Cascade Lakes Highway. Continue on the highway past Mount Bachelor; the Cultus Lake junction is two miles past an intersection with Forest Service Road 40 from Sunriver.

A slightly faster 41-mile route is via Sunriver. Seven and one-half miles past the main Sunriver exit from U.S. Highway 97, Forest Service Road 40 turns off Spring River Road; from there, it’s 15 miles to the Cascade Lakes Highway, two miles to the Cultus Lake junction and two more to the resort.

Next Week: Yreka and the State of Jefferson