If you ever find yourself feeling low when driving around Central Oregon and seeing less green this time of year, you’re not alone. It can be depressing to see trees without leaves, to feel the need to hole yourself up in a cozy, warm house instead of braving the frigid temps outside.

If, like me, you tend to feel down this time of year, hope springs from Bend’s best park.

Shevlin Park is, hands down, my favorite in the ever-growing list of green spaces managed by Bend Park & Recreation District. And judging by the parking lot on my most recent visit, I’m not alone in that notion.

Taking in its nearly 1,000 acres of natural landscapes — miles of trails perfect for both walking and biking — any time of year is a wonderful experience, but visiting in the winter holds something a little more special.

Proof of life

Walking along the Tumalo Creek Trail at Sheviln Park takes you 2.5 miles upstream, where it eventually connects with the trails maintained by Deschutes National Forest. With the gentle flow of the water accompanying you as you wind through riparian zones and tree stands, there is life all around you, even in the dead of winter.

Lichen shows off its bright green-yellow hues as it clings to the pines and firs that cover most of the trail, waxy manzanita leaves stand out among micro-groves of leafless aspen and mushrooms cling to the higher reaches of ponderosas. Even in some more shady, protected spaces, reeds are still green in the soggy soil off the trail.

It is rejuvenating in a way to be able to walk along the creek and see those pops of green and proof that winter doesn’t mean everything is dormant, waiting for the warmer days of spring. You can also hear it in the rushing water and in the winter songbirds that flit through the canopy including chickadees and kinglets, according to the Merlin app on my phone.

Intermixed with the joyous twits and tweets of birds and the conversations from fellow walkers enjoying a January jaunt, were the soft, muffled footfalls on a path of yellowed pine and fir needles and duff.

These sights and sounds are joined by sweet and woody fragrances that follow walkers on their journeys.

Choose your own adventure

Shevlin Park is certainly well-loved. Pick any day, and you’ll find families out for a nature walk, mountain bikers, trail runners or couples with their fur-child (most following the rules of keeping Fido leashed while others can’t be bothered to read the many signs and be considerate of other folks enjoying the trails, but I digress).

Suffice it to say, Shevlin is always teeming with life just based on the number of visitors it has.

Open to the public since the 1920s when the Shevlin-Hixon logging company gifted the land City of Bend under the requirements that it always be named Shevlin Park and that it always be open to the public.

Over the years, more land was added to it and the BPRD took over managing the space in the ‘70s.

For over 100 years, Shevlin Park has held a special place in the hearts of Bendites, who continue to find their own adventures here, no matter the season.

Wolf biologist kicks off annual Nature Nights series Jan. 29

No more blues

January and February can be the worst months for fair-weather outdoors people, but there are signs of life at Shevlin Park if you know where to look. These smaller signs could easily be ignored, but once you start searching a little more carefully and slow down a tad, you’ll see them much more clearly.

Walking along the trails allows even the biggest winter homebody to breathe in the crisp forest air for as little as an hour or as long as a day. Any of which can help shake some of the winter blues away.