oregon

Bend, OR

Bend is an awesome adventure town on the Deschutes River in Central Oregon!

Bend Tips: 

  • Bend is a pretty small city, but I would recommend visiting with a car to allow you to get into the nearby forest, lakes, and volcanoes. I would say 3 days is the ideal amount of time to visit since it is pretty small, but you could also spend plenty of time exploring the plethora of nature-filled activities in the area.

  • The climate of the city itself is pretty dry and desert-like, which I personally was not expecting. It can be hot, dry, and dusty.

  • The Bend Ale Trail is a super fun way to explore the brew scene in town. Download the app or pick up a paper passport to log your stops and receive all kinds of fun prizes! It also includes wineries, cideries, and distilleries if you want to explore more than just the beer scene!

  • Overall Bend is pretty sleepy, during the week most things close at 9pm.

Adventures & Ales Top Bend Recommendations: ​

  • The Ale Apothecary: A fantastic brewery that has all spontaneously fermented and barrel aged beers! The beers are absolutely delicious and this is a must visit. Ale Apothecary has a small taproom and patio with limited hours so make sure to plan ahead for your visit!

  • Canoe & Brew! I partnered with Wanderlust Tours to take a canoe trip out on the Cascade Lakes. The drive out to the lakes is about 40 minutes and it is a gorgeous ride through the forest. We canoed on Hosmer Lake and then stopped in the marsh to enjoy some beers from Cascade Lakes Brewing.

  • Bevel Craft Brewing: A nice brewery with a great outdoor space and food trucks onsite! Fun fact—the owners are professional disc golfers with seven professional world championship titles between the two of them!

  • Waypoint Hotel: I loved my stay at The Waypoint Hotel! Some of my favorite parts were that you can walk into town, they have a nice hot tub/pool, they a food truck onsite, they have local beers on tap, they have a nice little outside seating area with a fire pit, and the rooms are beautiful! I definitely recommend staying at The Waypoint Hotel for your Bend visit!

  • Traveling with a group? AvantStay has some amazing larger homes for rent! Check them out here and get $250 off your stay with my link!

The Ale Apothecary

  • Wild Roots Coffee House: A cute little coffee shop on the edge of town with delicious Sparrow Bakery pastries

  • Boss Rambler Beer Club: A great brewery in a snazzy space! Their Hazy IPAs are particularly delicious and they also have slushees. Their outdoor space is super cute and very welcoming. Boss Rambler is directly next to Sunriver Brewing and also has Megaphone Coffee inside.

  • Crosscut Warming Hut No. 5: A great beer bar with food trucks out back, a nice patio, a fire pit, and a plethora of local beers to choose from.

  • Crux Fermentation Project: A popular brewery with a large outdoor space and food trucks onsite. The infamous El Sancho taco truck is housed here so be sure to go hungry.

Canoe & Brew

Bend Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting: ​

  • Hike Tumalo Falls & Double Falls: Tumalo Falls is definitely one of the most popular sites in the Bend area because you don’t have to hike to see this huge waterfall and it is super close to town. It is very busy and parking can be difficult. Be sure to grab the $5 parking pass on your way in, there is a machine as you get close to the trailhead. Tumalo Falls you can see from the parking area or from another viewpoint higher up. From there the trail to Double Falls is much less crowded. I did this trail on AllTrails which ended up taking an hour and was 2.5 miles long and 28 flights up. The trail also continues further to more waterfalls if you have more time/energy to explore! Overall this was an easy and beautiful hike.

  • Hike the Matthieu Lakes Trail: This trailhead is about 45 minutes from town and says the Lava Camp Trail. The first portion of the trail was quite buggy (highly recommend bug spray) and boring in my opinion, but once you get to through that to the lakes it is much nicer. From South Matthieu Lake you can see the North Sister Volcano and then on your way down you’ll walk along a ridge with nice views of the entire Three Sisters Wilderness. I did this trail from AllTrails that ended up being about 2 hours and 20 minutes, 6.2 miles, and 62 flights up. As a heads up you are supposed to have the $5 day pass to park at the trailhead.

  • Float the Deschutes River! This is a super popular activity and perfect for the hot summer months. Here is more information on how to float!

Double Falls

Other Bend Things To Do:​​

  • Sunriver Brewing Co.: A restaurant-style brewery with average beers located in the heart of the Galveston neighborhood. Sunriver has a full food menu and a small back patio.

  • Backporch Coffee Roasters: Another cute coffee shop with Sparrow Bakery goods

  • Immersion Brewing: A brewery with average beers and a full food menu. Located directly across the street from the beer bar Crosscut.

  • Bend Brewing: A touristy brewery with a full food menu and average beers. They have a nice seating area along the river that is beer-only.

  • Monkless Belgian Ales: A Belgian-style brewery with food and views of the river. Personally I had a terrible experience at Monkless and I would not recommend visiting. The beers were not good, the food was not good, and the service was terrible.

Have more time in the Pacific Northwest?

Portland, OR

Portland is a Mecca for craft beer lovers & A super fun city to explore!

PDX Tips: 

  • There are so many breweries. Unless you live in the area or are staying for quite some time it is impossible to hit them all, so be sure to plan ahead so that you can visit the best of the best!

  • You don’t really need a car in Portland. Once you get to specific neighborhoods you can walk to many places and it’s not too big of a city. I personally preferred having a car so that I could do day trips, but would’ve otherwise been fine without one. Be prepared to do a lot of parallel parking if you decide to visit with a car

  • The weather in Portland can be very finicky—even with a 0% chance of rain it sprinkled and the sun really doesn’t like to come out until midday, so I would just recommend always having layers, one of which being a raincoat

  • You can’t pump your own (very expensive) gas in Oregon, just pull up to the pump and someone will come out to do it for you

  • Visiting Portland with your pup? Check out Pup Passport, a digital passport that lets dog owners have fun by exploring breweries and cideries with their dogs and get exclusive discounts at the same time!

Adventures & Ales Top Portland Recommendations: ​

  • Great Notion Brewing: Arguably one of the best breweries in the country, Great Notion is at the top of the list for places to visit in Portland! They have three taprooms in the area and each location has a slightly different tap list:

    • Alberta Brewpub: Their original location and a must visit! They also have a nice outdoor space and a small sandwich menu

    • NW Brewpub: Another great spot with somewhat more restaurant-vibes than the OG. They have fantastic murals and a large bar you can sit at

    • Beaverton Taproom: Their suburb location a bit further out of town

  • Wayfinder Beer: Yummy beers, a massive patio, and a full food menu—highly recommend!

  • Cascade Brewing: The House of Sour! Cascade is an absolute must-visit in Portland. They specialize in Sour Ales and absolutely crush it. Their taproom has a small food menu, a great shaded patio space, and super nice staff members

  • Migration Brewing: A great brewery with four locations in town, but I would highly recommend the Rooftop at Canvas spot! It is right across from the soccer stadium and has amazing views of the city and surrounding volcanoes. The tap list at this location is small but the views make up for it.

  • Take a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge! Check out my full one day itinerary here with waterfall hiking and brewery hopping in Hood River!

  • Ruse Brewing: A fantastic brewery in South Portland making delicious beers in a chill environment

Great Notion Brewing

  • Bentley’s Bagels: Super delicious New York-style bagels!

  • Baerlic Brewing: A cute spot with good beers, patio seating, and Ranch Pizza onsite

  • Upright Brewing: Good beers made with lots of passion from their team. They have a shared space, so food is available from PBS Cafe. It is somewhat of an odd intersection, so Google Maps can be a little confused as you are trying to get there as a forewarning

  • Belmont Station: A great bottle shop and beer bar!

  • Crema Coffee & Bakery: A great coffeeshop with fantastic baked goods!

  • Ex Novo Brewing Co.: Detroit-style pizza + solid beers, what more do you need? Ex Novo is a cool spot that can be quite popular. They have two locations in the Portland area, one in north/central PDX on Flint Street and one in the suburb of Beaverton. Their menu was heavy on IPAs which I enjoyed!

Mt. Hood

Portland Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting: ​

  • Hike in Forest Park: The park itself is massive and can be quite popular. I followed this AllTrails out and back trail up to Pittock Mansion for an incredible view of Portland and Mount Hood. The trail was 6 miles, 70 flights up, and took about two hours and fifteen minutes.

  • Pine State Biscuits: Touristy but delicious biscuit spot! They have multiple locations throughout Portland and you can order online ahead of time if you’d like

  • Mount Hood National Forest: Mount Hood is only an hour from Portland and is a super easy drive. I recommend hiking Mirror Lake, it is conveniently right off the highway and has some incredible views of Mount Hood. I followed this AllTrails loop trail, which ended up being 4.3 miles, 40 flights up, and took about an hour and a half. It is not too strenuous of a trail and the reflections in the lake are awesome. You do need a $5 day pass to park which you can purchase in advance or on your phone day of.

  • Salt & Straw: Fantastic (but touristy) ice cream spot with multiple locations throughout Portland

  • Eat at a food cart! I have never seen so many food trucks/carts in my life as in Portland. There are so many options it is absolutely insane, so be sure to have that experience while you’re in the city.

Pine State Biscuits

Other Portland Things To Do:​​

  • Breakside Brewing: Breakside has two locations in Portland: Dekum and NW Slabtown. They have a full food menu and large beer menu

  • Culmination Brewing: A small brewery with solid IPAs. Miami Nice is the food truck onsite

  • Ecliptic Brewing: An average brewery with a nice outdoor space and full food menu

  • Life of Pie Pizza: Yummy pizza spot with daily happy hour from 11-6 with $7 Margherita pizzas and $5 House Beer and Wine

  • StormBreaker Brewing: An average brewery with a great outdoor space and full food menu

  • Hammer and Stitch Brewing Company: Newer brewery near Forest Park with a full food menu and large patio with standard beers

  • Albina Press: A cute little coffee shop on Hawthorne

  • Level Beer: Located right near the airport making it the perfect stop on your way in or out of the city. They have food carts onsite, a cute greenhouse-style outdoor space, and average beers

Have more time in the Pacific Northwest?

A Day Trip to the Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is the perfect day trip from Portland, Oregon. This scenic area is just about an hour away from PDX. It is full of hiking, waterfalls, water sports, and fantastic craft beer.

Check out my full beer and travel guide for Portland!

Here is my day trip itinerary for the Columbia River Gorge:

Hike in the columbia river gorge

Multnomah Falls is the highest waterfall in Oregon and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the area. I recommend doing the Wahkeena Falls loop which hits five different waterfalls. I did this AllTrails hike which ended up being 5.8 miles, 134 flights up, and took about 2.5 hours.

The trail starts along a ridge heading from Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls are truly an incredible sight. From the base of the falls you head up the trail across the iconic bridge on the falls and into the land of switchbacks. You wind up for quite a while until you’re at the top of the Multnomah Falls, and then head into the woods. First you encounter Wisendanger Falls, and then Ecola Falls which is a bit smaller and harder to see from the trail. From Ecola Falls you wind through the woods for a while until getting to Fairy Falls, which you essentially follow all the way back down the mountain to the trailhead at Wahkeena Falls.

The trail provides great views of the surrounding gorge and was a delight to hike throughout. It was mildly overgrown in some areas when I visited and there were a plethora of large slugs, so just watch your step! I recommend starting your hike early to avoid the crowds. Getting there anytime between 7-8am was fine, but by 10am the parking lot was packed. There are several other waterfalls and hikes along the Historic Columbia River Highway as well!

Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls

Hood River

From your hike head further into the gorge to the town of Hood River, the heart of the Columbia River Gorge. The drive is right along the river and absolutely gorgeous!

I recommend making Stoked Coffee your first stop. This cute little coffeeshop is right on Hood River Waterfront Park. Grab a coffee and meander through the park or find a bench to watch the windsurfers!

Hood River also has several breweries worth checking out:

Full Sail Brewing

Full Sail Brewing

Full Sail Brewing

Full Sail has a small elevated patio with nice views overlooking the Columbia River. They have a full food menu, average beers, and restaurant-style vibes.

Ferment Brewing Co.

Ferment Brewing Co.

Ferment Brewing Co.

Ferment has a huge deck-style patio right on Waterfront Park. The views here were my favorite in Hood River. They have a full food menu with delicious offerings and fantastic beers—the best of the day! Ferment can be quite popular, so expect a line if visiting during peak season.

pFriem Family Brewers

pFriem Family Brewers

pFriem Family Brewers

pFriem is probably the most well-known brewery in the area and for good reason—their barrel aged beers are top notch. With that popularity comes long waits for a table, so I recommend heading to Bear’s Den next door. This is their beer-only outdoor section, whereas their taproom has a full food menu and more of a restaurant set-up. pFriem is also right on Waterfront Park, but they are on ground level so you don’t get the views that you do at Ferment.

Views from the Wahkeena Falls trail

Views from the Wahkeena Falls trail

Have you visited the Columbia River Gorge? What are your favorite spots? Let me know in the comments! Cheers —Alexis