Why This Trip Rocks
- Premier Home Base: 4-night stay in a modern condo with private garage & Cascade views.
- Three Distinct Terrain Zones: lava domes at Cline Buttes, forest-and-flow at East Fort Rock, and 11,000-acre Christmas Valley Sand Dunes.
- Turn-Key Jeeps: 3 lifted, locker-equipped 4×4 with radios, recovery gear & permits.
- All-Inclusive Days: hot breakfasts in-condo, gourmet trail lunches, pro guides & comms.
- Bend After Dark: 30+ breweries, live-music patios, riverfront trails, art walk & boutique shopping.
Three radically different landscapes—lava ledges, pine forests, and rolling dunes—served up in one long-weekend throttle-fest.
Bend Warm-Up
Arrive at Redmond, settle into your Mill Quarter condo, pop a welcome brew, then wander the Deschutes River promenade for an instant hit of Bend’s laid-back vibe and legendary tap-list.
Mid-Day Action
Fly into Redmond (RDM) • 25-min shuttle to Mill Quarter condo • Welcome Happy Hour & orientation
Evening in Bend
Group toast at Deschutes Brewery; explore Old Mill fire-pit patios
Cline Buttes: “Lava Ledges & Cascade Vistas”
Fire up the CampDads Jeeps for Cline Buttes: basalt ledges, sandy washes, and summit panoramas that stretch from Mt. Bachelor to Smith Rock. Cap the day with a victory pint on Bend’s award-winning Ale Trail.
Morning
Hearty breakfast tacos, gear check
Mid-Day Action
Crawl basalt ledges, weave sandy washes & summit viewpoints (89 mi route)
Picnic lunch
Strap in for a technical playground carved out of 7-million-year-old basalt. We’ll snake through ancient juniper groves, drop into sandy washes, then test lockers on Trail #34, the rock-crawl made famous in Peterson’s Ultimate Adventure. Summit ridgelines reward us with 360° views of the Three Sisters and Mt. Bachelor before we descend to the North Barr Play Area for a final adrenaline hit.
Points of Interest en-route:
- Eagle Rock overlook
- North Barr staging loop
- petroglyph boulder field
- Deschutes River canyon pull-off.
Evening in Bend
Free time → craft-beer “Ale Trail” passport or whiskey tasting • Dinner at 10 Barrel Brewing
East Fort Rock: “Pines, Cinders & Flow State”
Dive into East Fort Rock’s 300-plus miles of pine-framed lava flow trails—fast ribbons, technical rock gardens, and everything between. Evening brings river-wave surfing and a farm-to-table feast downtown.
Morning
Sunrise coffee + local pastries
Mid-Day Action
318-mile OHV network: flowing lava-rock single-track, shady pine ridges, optional technical loops
Trail-side lunch
A morning dash past volcanic China Hat Butte drops us into 318 miles of mapped single-track and lava-flow two-track—everything from pine-scented cruisers to black-cinder rock gardens. We’ll rip the fast “Flyer” loops, picnic in a shady ponderosa grove, then tackle the Ice Quarry Play Area for optional hard lines before finishing with a hero run along the sinuous Lava Cast trail.
Point of Interest en-route:
- Road 25 wildlife water blinds
- Camp II lookout
- South Lava staging mesa
- hidden obsidian flow
Evening in Bend
Downtown Bend: surf the river wave, browse local shops • Farm-to-table dinner at Wild Rose Thai
Christmas Valley Sand Dunes: “Oregon’s Inland Sahara”
Charge Oregon’s biggest inland dunes at Christmas Valley—8,900 open acres of steep bowls and soft-sand playgrounds, plus a quick slot-canyon detour at Crack-in-the-Ground. Celebrate with a fireside farewell feast back in Bend.
Morning
Early grab-&-go breakfast burritos • 90-min scenic drive SE
Mid-Day Action
Rip 60-ft dune bowls, sand-sail the flats, photo stop at Crack-in-the-Ground
Gourmet wrap & fruit lunch
Shift to low-range and wide-open throttle: 8,900 acres of shifting dune bowls—some 60 ft tall—await our convoy. We’ll carve S-curves across wind-rippled ridges, climb the Dragon’s Back spine for panoramic selfies, then surf downhill into soft-sand valleys that feel a world away from Bend’s pines.
After lunch, a short hop delivers us to the volcanic slot canyon Crack-in-the-Ground for a desert-cooling hike, with optional detours to the rare Lost Forest ponderosa stand or fossil-rich Fossil Lake.
Evening in Bend
Return to Bend • Farewell feast & fire-side s’mores at Sunriver Brewing
Wheels Up
Pancake bar, parting swag, and a short shuttle to RDM—heading home with cameras full, clothes dusty, and stories for days.
Morning
Pancake bar & good-bye swag • Check-out 10 AM
Mid-Day Action
Airport Shuttle