While it won’t be as warm as it was last weekend and there is the potential for some rain showers in Bend, down south, things are looking more snowy, especially in the mountains.

The official start of spring is Sunday, but that doesn’t mean much in some parts of Central Oregon where winter can cling for a while afterward. So if snow is your thing, check out the mountains and areas in south Deschutes County.

For a full list of conditions updated regularly, please visit centraloregonexplore.com.

Hiking and Day Use Sites

NOTE: Many of the trails along seasonally closed highways and forest service roads remain open, but can only be accessed by hike, snowshoe, cross country ski or snowmobile due to accumulating snowfall. See Forest websites for more details and restrictions.

Deschutes National Forest

Beach Day Use: Open

Benham East Trailhead: Open

Benham West Trailhead: Open

Besson Day Use: Open

Big Eddy Day Use: Open

Crane Prairie Picnic Area: Open

Crater Butte Trailhead: Open

Crescent Lake Guard Station: Open

Cultus Lake Day Use Area: Open

Deer Lake Trailhead: Open

Dillon Day Use: Open

Edison Trailhead: Open

Elk Lake Trailhead: Open

Fall River Headwaters: Open; snow free and clear

Lava Cast Forest Trailhead: Open; patchy snow and ice

Lava Island Day Use: Open

Lava Lake Day Use: Open

Lava Lands Trails: Open; potential patchy snow and ice, visitor center is closed for the season; trails and parking area open

Sun Lava Trailhead: Open; potential patchy snow and ice, heavy use on weekends

Lemish Lake Trailhead: Open

Little Fawn Day Use: Open

Lucky Lake Trailhead: Open

Paulina Falls Picnic and Trailhead: Open

Paulina Lake Day Use: Open

Peter Skene Ogden Trailhead: Open; Paulina Creek restoration in progress, use caution to avoid machinery

Quinn River Day Use: Open

Rosary Lakes Trailhead: Open

Simax North and South Beach area: Open

Six Lakes Trailhead: Open

Slough Day Use: Open

South Twin Day Use — Launch: Open

Summit Lake: Open

Sunset View Day Use: Open

Ten Mile Trailhead: Open

Tandy Bay Picnic Area: Open

Tranquil Cove Day Use: Open

Wake Butte Trailhead: Open

Winopee Trailhead: Open

Deschutes National Forest — Diamond Peak Wilderness

Crater Butte Trailhead: Open

Fawn Lake Trail: Open

Snell Lake Trail: Open

Whitefish Creek Trail: Open

Yoran Lake Trail: Open

Stag Lake Trail: Open

Bureau of Land Management

Black Hills ACEC: Open; climbing and geocaching are prohibited

Christmas Valley Sand Dunes: Open

Crack-in-the-Ground: Open

Derrick Cave: Open

Fossil Lake ACEC: Open; motor vehicles and fossil collecting prohibited

Green Mountain: Open

Lost Forest: Open, vehicles restricted to designated roads only

Oregon State Parks

Fort Rock State Natural Area: Open; day-use hours 8 a.m,-8 p.m.; rock scrambling closed in southeast area to protect nesting falcons

La Pine State Park: Open, expect reduced services; winter day use hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; meeting hall is closed; reservations for cabins required

Ski areas and snow parks

Updated 8 a.m. March 18

Hoodoo: Open; 93.8 inch base; Hodag lift and Autobahn Tubing Park are closed

Mt. Bachelor: Open; 103 inch base; First Rays lift is closed, Summit will close with continued high winds

Willamette Pass: 55 inches at lodge; rentals and tickets must be reserved online in advance

Deschutes National Forest

Last updated March 5

Crescent Lake Sno-park: Open; 10-12 inches; fair conditions with low snow

Crescent Junction: Open; 10-12 inches; fair conditions with low snow

Dutchman Sno-park: Open; 72-96 inches; good conditions, limited parking and no overnight camping; 40-foot max length limit for vehicle/trailer combination; expect heavy use

Edison Butte Sno-park: Open; 30-48 inches; fair conditions; area roads closed to highway vehicles through March 31, 2021

Kapka Butte Sno-park: Open; 42-66 inches; good conditions; area roads closed to highway vehicles through March 31, 2021

Meissner Sno-park: Open; 24-36 inches; good conditions; area roads closed through April 1, 2021; no dogs; lodge currently closed

Skyliner Sno-park: Open; unknown snow depth, access road closed for the season, road is now a ski/snowshoe trail

Swampy Sno-park: Open; 42-66 inches; good conditions; no dogs; area roads closed through March 31, 2021

Vista Butte Sno-park: Open; 42-60 inches; good conditions; area north of parking area closed to snowmobiles, use Kapka Butte or Wanoga

Wanoga Snow Play: Open; 36-48 inches; good conditions; expect heavy use; pack out broken sleds and all trash; shelter is closed

Wanoga Snowmobile: Open; 36-48 inches; good conditions; area roads closed to highway vehicles through March 31, 2021; shelter is closed

Newberry (Six Mile Sno-park): Open; 2-6 inches; poor conditions due to low snow.

Newberry (10 Mile Sno-park): Open; 18-30 inches; fair conditions, low snow around sno-park; road beyond park closed to vehicles for the season

Three Creek Sno-park (Lower): Open; 2-6 inches; marginal conditions due to low snow

Three Creek Sno-park (Upper): Open; 14-18 inches; good conditions; Forest Service Road 16 is plowed by may have icy ruts

Walt Haring Sno-park: 8-10 inches; good conditions

Ochoco National Forest:

Bandit Springs Sno-park: Open

Mark’s Creek Sno-park: Open

Ochoco Divide Sno-park: Open

Walton Sno-park: Open

Willamette National Forest

Gold Lake Sno-park: Open

Ikenick Sno-park: Open

Little Nash Sno-park: Open

Maxwell Sno-park: Open; Mountain View and South Maxwell shelters are closed

Potato Hill Sno-park: Open

Ray Benson Sno-park: Open; 54-66 inches; good conditions, expect heavy use

Salt Creek Sno-park: Open

Santiam Sno-park: Open

Waldo Lake Sno-park: Open

Cycling

Fatbike and winter trails

Ben’s-MTB-Kent’s: Muddy

Wanoga — 3 PSI, Wanoga — Outer Loop: Rideable snow

Cline Buttes, Horse Butte Loop, Horse Ridge Area, Madras East Hills, Maston, The Radlands: Riding well

Cascade Lakes trails

Edison-Lava and Metolius-Windigo (Todd Lake): Deep snow

Metolius-Windigo (Lava Lake): Deep snow; deadfall reported

Sunriver area trails

Black Rock: Rideable snow

Crater Rim: Deep snow

Roundabout: Deep snow, deadfall reported

La Pine State Park, Roundabout: Ice

All other trails reporting a winter mix

Waldo Lake Region

All trails reporting deep snow

Fire danger is currently listed as Moderate in the Deschutes National Forest. Fire danger is listed as Low in the Ochoco and Willamette National Forests.

Industrial Fire Precaution Level is currently at Level 1 for the Deschutes and Ochoco national forests and the Prineville District — Bureau of Land Management.

As of July 22, Deschutes River access is closed due to safety concerns and to prevent further erosion to the river bank. The access point will be closed until further notice. For more information visit bendparksandrec.org

To protect nesting raptors, the following climbing routes are closed: Cajun Cliff, Victoria Tower, Little Three Fingered Jack, Puddy’s Tower, The Monument, Anglin’s Buttress, French Tent Rock, First Kiss Area north of Monkey Face and Smith Rock Group NE Face (both towers, above 100 feet).

The Canyon Trail near the bald eagle nest is restricted to groups of four or less and noise must be kept to a minimum. 

See smithrock.com/seasonal-closures for more information.

Beginning Jan. 28 the following trails are closed from Mondays to 3 p.m. Fridays (except for federal holidays) due to timber harvesting and forest restoration work:

• Lower Whoops
• Pine Drops
• EXT
• Storm King from the junction with Forest Road 4615 and the junction with Phil’s Trail
• Phil’s Trail between the junction with EXT and it’s western terminus at the junction with Pine Drops
• Upper Whoops
• Lower Whoops
• Skyliners

The following Bureau of Land Management trails are now closed through Aug. 31 to protect nesting raptors:

• Millican Plateau OHV Trail System (Route 95 only)
• South side of Trout Creek Trail including climbing walls
• Cline Buttes Recreation Area (portions of Deep Canyon, Fryrear, Maston, Jaguar Road)
• Horny Hollow Trail
• Dry River Canyon

For more information visit blm.gov