In the world of walking tours, you have glorious options. You could traverse the Thorong La pass. You could trek across the Dolomites.

Closer to home and shorter, you could set out in the morning determined to hit every brewery in Bend or check out every piece of roundabout art.

Now there’s a new kid on the walking tour circuit in Bend — the city’s self-guided tour of stormwater.

“The tour highlights stormwater system features, Bend’s water history, and educates the public about important City infrastructure that is helping protect the Deschutes River and its critters,” the city announced.

We tightened our shoelaces, leashed up the ever-ready dog and set out.

The stormwater tour has no significant elevation gain. The views are no more remarkable than anywhere else in Bend. There is no prize of a cold brew at the next stop.

What it does have is an informative, though not frothy, je ne sais quoi. We felt like we learned more on our tour than we sacrificed in time.

Some of you no doubt wonder what the tour cost to create. We asked. The city’s share was $7,329. Taylor Northwest LLC did chip in another $4,876. So, overall, not that much in city budget terms.

We can’t fault people visiting Bend lining up to take a photo in front of the last Blockbuster. After our stormwater peregrinations, it occurs to us there is the opportunity to take a photo along Bend’s stormwater walking tour and be one of the first people in the world to shout it out on social media. It’s one of a kind, too.

You can find out more here: bendoregon.gov/stormwaterwalkingtour.