One of the best days I’ve experienced in recent memory was a year ago, when my wife and I and three friends traveled to Crater Lake National Park and participated in a short snowshoe tour operated by the U.S. Forest Service.

That day was unusually warm with crystal-clear blue skies and a jaw-dropping view of Oregon’s most famous body of water. The tour was fun, the company was good, and we left saying we need to seek out more opportunities like that.

So when we noticed that the same kind of tour started up last month at Mt. Bachelor, my wife and I pounced. Although it was obvious Saturday morning that we weren’t going to get a beautiful bluebird day this time, we headed west on the Cascade Lakes Highway to catch the 10 a.m. tour.

Now, I’m the kind of guy who tends to overuse hyperbole when I describe something. I know this. I got it from my mom.

But I wonder: Is there a more positive, family-friendly and inexpensive activity around here than these snowshoe tours?

There might be, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of many. For such a small investment of time, effort and money, the benefits are plenty.

The tours get you outside to enjoy nature. They provide an opportunity for exercise.

It’s pretty light exercise, but it’s more active than sitting at home watching football and eating chocolate-covered cherries for several hours straight (not that I know anyone who spent their New Year’s Day doing that).

They’re educational. The rangers who guide the tour dispense a wealth of knowledge about the watershed around Mount Bachelor, the wildlife that spends winters there, the geology of the region and more.

Best of all, they’re free, although you’ll likely have an opportunity to make a donation to the program at the end of the session.

On Saturday morning, we arrived at the back side of Mt. Bachelor’s guest services building to find about two dozen people standing in a semi-circle around Forest Service Ranger Bob Burpee of Bend. The group ranged in age from preteens to folks in their 50s and 60s, only a small percentage of whom had snowshoed before. (Organizers say snowshoe experience is not necessary, but they ask that participants be older than 10.)

Like my wife and I, most took advantage of the free snowshoes available at the beginning of the tour. A few people did bring their own, and that’s OK, too. And though I am no snowshoe expert, I must say that the ones we wore at Bachelor were more comfortable and seemed to work better than the ones we had at Crater Lake.

We spent the first 15 or so minutes gathered around Burpee, who told us a little about the path we’d be taking, as well as the history of Mt. Bachelor and the snowshoe tours, which have been run by Forest Service volunteers since 1995.

Then, in a single-file line, Burpee led us to a flat area in the shadow of the Pine Marten Express lift, where we awkwardly strapped into our snowshoes before traipsing up a hill along the bottom of Mount Bachelor’s cinder cone.

As we were standing among tall hemlock trees drooping from the weight of snow, the factoids started flying, courtesy of Burpee and his fellow ranger, Joe Murray. The two men, clad head to toe in federal-government green, acted like real tour guides. You know, like this: “Out on the left side of the bus, we have a nice view of the Statue of Liberty.” Or whatever.

Except out here, there were no man-made attractions, at least once we got into the trees and out of sight of a parking lot full of automobiles. No, out here, it was nature’s wonder as far as the eye could see.

Burpee and Murray took turns educating us about all that nature, in between single-file jaunts along a powdery trail that Bachelor recently marked with little blue signs showing a yellow showshoer.

For example, did you know that a slab avalanche can move as fast as 100 to 150 mph?

(Tromp, tromp, tromp, down the hill and into a clearing.)

Or that it takes 22 months for water from that particular watershed to reach Bend?

Or that the snowshoe hare, which lives in the area, changes color? It’s white in the winter, and brown in the summer!

(Tromp, tromp, tromp, up another hill to a spot that, on a clear day, would provide a gorgeous view of the Three Sisters and Broken Top.)

Did you know that the South Sister bulge is approximately the size of the city of Portland?

That one really wowed me. Maybe you know all this stuff, but I didn’t.

In 90 minutes, our tour group covered right around a mile and a half, and Burpee and Murray tossed out enough tidbits about the area to fill an episode of “Jeopardy.” They also deftly involved the youngsters in our group, at one point lining up two actual sisters and their friend to give us a visual representation of where the Three Sisters mountains would be on a clear day.

At the end of our tour, the guides allowed us to gently break trail, and we cut away from the path and headed back down the hill toward the parking lot full of cars.

For me, the reappearance of the parking lot was a reminder of just how lucky we are in Central Oregon, where we have so many easy and close-in opportunities to get out and get away from the real world, even if it’s just for a short time.

Mt. Bachelor snowshoe tour

Getting there: From Bend, drive south on Southwest Century Drive, which will turn into Cascade Lakes Highway. Go about 20 miles to Mt. Bachelor. The tours meet at the U.S. Forest Service snowshoe hut just outside the Guest Services building.

When: 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through March 28. The tours will also be offered daily March 22-26 for spring break. Participants are asked to check in 10 to 15 minutes prior to the tour.

Cost: Free, and snowshoes are available.

Difficulty: Easy. No snowshoeing experience required. Participants should be older than 10.

Contact: www.mtbachelor.com/winter/activities/snowshoeing/index.html