A trail marker at the Benham Falls East Trailhead indicates distance to the falls, to Sunriver and to Lava Lands.

This weekend is expected to bring snow to most parts of Central Oregon. Take advantage of the spring snow and get out to a sno-park while conditions are still good. South of Bend offers several less heavily trafficked sno-parks and beautiful winter trails and waterfalls to explore.

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

Hiking and Day Use Sites

NOTE: There is substantial snow in area sno-parks, and all summer trails have snow on them. While the Forest Service doesn’t close these trails during the winter, summer trails are only accessible by snowshoeing, cross country skiing or snowmobiling due to accumulated snowpack. And remember, many of these trails are along seasonally closed highways that are unplowed and cannot be accessed by car or foot. Know the current conditions and you and your cars abilities before heading out on any adventure.

See forest websites for more details and restrictions.

Deschutes National Forest

• Benham East Trailhead: Open
• Benham West Trailhead: Open
• Bessie Butte Trail: Open
• Big River Boating Site: Open
• Big Obsidian Flow Trailhead: Open
• Boyd Cave Day Use Area: Open
• Cinder Beach Day Use: Open; snow; operated by the Suttle Lodge
• Coral Swamp Trailhead: Snow; light deadfall
• Crane Prairie Picnic Area: Snow
• Crater Rim Trailhead: Deep snow
• Crescent Lake Guard Station: Open; deep snow
• Elk Lake Trailhead: Deep snow
• Fall River Trail: Open; snow
• Horse Butte Trailhead: Open; snow; light deadfall above Swamp Wells
• Lava Butte Interpretation Viewpoint: Open; snow
• Lava Cast Forest Trailhead: Open; snow; NW Forest Pass required
• Lava Lake Day Use: Open; snow mud and ice
• Lava Lands: Snow, mud and ice; visitor center closed for season, trails open; patchy snow and pine needles may exist on surface; heavy use on weekends
• Lava River Cave — Show Cave: closed for season
• Metolius-Windigo: Open; snow
• Osprey Point Day Use: Open
• Peter Skene Ogden Trailhead: Open; snow
• Quinn River Boating site: Closed
• Rosary Lakes Trailhead: Open 
• Ten Mile Trailhead: Open
• Tenino Boating Site: Open
• Wake Butte Trailhead: Snow

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; rock scrambling closed in southeast area to protect nesting falcons; cave tours canceled
• La Pine State Park: Open

Ski areas and sno-parks

Updated 10 a.m. March 30

• Hoodoo: Open; 99.6-inch base
• Mt. Bachelor: Open; 126-inch base
• Willamette Pass: Open; 88-inch base

Updated 10 a.m. March 23

Deschutes National Forest

• Crescent Lake Sno-park: Open; 24-48 inches; good conditions
• Crescent Junction: Open; 24-48 inches; good conditions
• Dutchman Sno-park: Open; 100-120 inches; good conditions; limited parking/no overnight camping; 40-foot max length limit for vehicle/trailer combination; expect heavy use all the time; no dogs
• Edison Butte Sno-park: Open; 42-54 inches; good conditions with hardpack snow; area roads closed to highway vehicles Dec. 1-March 31
• Kapka Butte Sno-park: Open; 54-84 inches; good conditions; area side roads closed to Highway vehicles Dec. 1-March 31
• Meissner Sno-park: Open; 30-42 inches; good conditions; area roads closed through April 1; no dogs
• Skyliner Sno-park: Open; gate/road to Tumalo Falls is closed for the season; road is ski/snowshoe trail
• Swampy Sno-park: Open; 54-72 inches; good conditions; no dogs; area roads closed to highway vehicles through March 31
• Vista Butte Sno-park: Open; 48-84 inches; good conditions; no dogs
• Wanoga Snow Play: Open; 48-60 inches; good conditions with hard snowpack; expect heavy use all the time; area roads closed to Highway vehicles Dec. 1-March 31; pack home broken sleds and all trash
• Wanoga Snowmobile: Open; 42-60 inches; good conditions; area roads closed to Highway vehicles through March 31
• Newberry (Six Mile Sno-park): Open; 6-12 inches; fair conditions due to low snow
• Newberry (10 Mile Sno-park): Open; 39-60 inches; good conditions but thin coverage; Road 21 beyond 10 Mile closed to vehicles for winter season
• Three Creek Sno-park (Lower): Open; 6-12 inches; fair conditions due to low snow
• Three Creek Sno-park (Upper): Open; 24-36 inches; good conditions
• Walt Haring Sno-park: Open; 24-36 inches; good conditions

Camping

Deschutes National Forest

• Fall River Guard Station: Open

Cycling

Fatbike & Winter Trails

• Tumalo Creek: Rideable snow
• Horse Butte, Maston: Muddy
• Wanoga Outer Loop, Wanoga 3 PSI: Riding well
• Deschutes River Trail: Ice
• Ben’s, MTB, Kent’s Trail: Variable

Sunriver area trails

• Black Rock: Rideable snow
• All other trails under deep snow

Waldo Lake Region

• All trails closed due to wildfire

Fishing

Updated at 10 a.m. March 30

• Upper Deschutes at Benham Falls: 428 cfs; rainbow trout, brown trout; anglers report good rainbow and brown trout fishing below Wickiup Dam
• Fall River: Brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout; open to fishing all year above Fall River Falls; fly-fishing with barbless hooks only
• Crane Prairie Reservoir: Closed through April 21
• Wickiup Reservoir: Closed through April 21
• East Lake: Brown trout, kokanee, rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon; anglers report good fishing for brown trout, rainbow trout and kokanee; due to low water, the East Lake Campground boat ramp is unavailable for launching larger boats; anglers should look to launch boats at Hot Springs Cinder Hill campground boat ramps; Paulina-East Lake Road closed for the winter
• Paulina Lake: Kokanee, rainbow and brown trout; good fishing for kokanee and brown trout; Paulina-East Lake Road closed for the winter
• Ochoco Reservoir: 15% full; rainbow trout, black crappie, smallmouth bass; water level is still extremely low and bank access is limited to walk-in only
• North Twin Lake: Rainbow trout; good fishing reported
• South Twin Lake: Rainbow trout; good fishing reported
• Davis Lake: rainbow trout and largemouth bass; water level is low and it may be difficult to launch larger boats; fair fishing for largemouth bass; fly fishing only; fair fishing, catch and release for trout, no limit on size or number for warmwater fish; Odell Creek Channel and Odell Creek are closed to fishing upstream of the West Davis Lake Campground boat launch until May 22
• Lava Lake: Rainbow trout; recent reports of good fishing; open to fishing all year
• Little Lava Lake: Rainbow trout, brook trout and whitefish; no road access due to snow; best methods are bait, lures and flies still-fished or trolled
• Cultus Lake: Mackinaw, rainbow and brook trout; troll depths for mackinaw and shallower areas for rainbows
• Hosmer Lake: Brook, cutthroat and rainbow trout; Cascade Lake Highway closed for winter; fly fishing and catch and release only with barbless hooks; good fishing reported; no access due to snow
• Elk Lake: Brook trout and kokanee; jigging, still-fishing and trolling from a boat or fly fishing are best; Cascade Lake Highway closed for winter
• Diamond Lake: trout; all brown and tiger trout must be released; trout fishing has been good on lures; if you catch one over 20 inches, take it to the marina to be entered for a raffle
• Crescent Lake: 10% full; kokanee, mackinaw, rainbow and brown trout, whitefish and chub; one lake trout per day, 24-inch minimum; fishing is poor; lake level is extremely low, developed ramps are unavailable for launching boats
• Walton Lake: Rainbow trout; no recent update
• Odell Lake: Lake trout, kokanee, rainbow trout; anglers report good kokanee fishing jigging and trolling with fish averaging 13 inches; 25 kokanee per day in addition to daily trout limit

Fire danger is listed as Moderate in the Ochoco National Forests and the Crooked River Grasslands. It is listed as low in the Deschutes and Willamette National Forests.

Industrial Fire Precaution Level has been lowered to 0 as of Nov. 1 in the Deschutes, Ochoco and the Crooked River Grasslands. It is still at a level 1 in the Willamette National Forests.

As of July 22, 2020, Deschutes River access is closed due to safety concerns and to prevent further erosion to the riverbank. The access point will be closed until further notice. For more information visit bendparksandrec.org

• The Monument Area will be closed to climbing beginning Jan. 18, 2022.

• The Canyon Trail near the Bald Eagle nest is restricted to travel in groups of 4 or less, and noise needs to be kept to a minimum.

• Peregrine and Prairie Falcon climbing closures will go into effect at a later date.

• A park-wide ban on drones is in effect for remainder of nesting season.