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High Desert Museum, Bend, OR

Photo: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

MuseumsFamily FavoriteHistory BuffOutdoor Adventure

High Desert Museum

High Desert Museum is a museum in Bend, OR, part of the Central Oregon guide. Cost: under $25.

59800 S US Highway 97 · Bend, OR

Why you should go…

The High Desert Museum sits along US Highway 97 on the edge of Bend, Oregon, and combines indoor galleries with outdoor trails and live-animal habitats. Exhibits cover the natural history, wildlife and human history of the High Desert region, including Native American culture and homesteader life. The museum is open daily year-round, with hours and admission pricing that vary by season.

  • #museum
  • #wildlife
  • #history
  • #family
  • #nature

What's around here?

The closest stops to High Desert Museum, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Outdoor Adventure

    Newberry National Volcanic Monument

    Under $25

    Explore lava flows, a cinder cone, a lava tube cave and two caldera lakes on a volcano south of Bend.

    4.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Sport & Outdoor

  • Attractions
    Quirky Fun

    Puzzle Effect Bend

    $25–$50

    An escape room venue in Bend offering themed puzzle rooms like a haunted ship, an underground city and a rescue mystery.

    4.9 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Tours
    Outdoor Adventure

    Sun Country Tours

    $50+

    Guided whitewater rafting and river tubing trips out of Bend since 1978.

    5.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Deschutes Historical Museum

    Under $25

    Local history museum in a restored 1914 schoolhouse covering Central Oregon's pioneers, tribes and logging past.

    6.3 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    Foodie Favorite

    High Desert Food Trail

    Free

    Self-guided trail linking about 60 Central Oregon farms, ranches and food businesses from Warm Springs to Sunriver.

    6.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing
    Outdoor Adventure

    Bend

    Free

    Central Oregon hub for outdoor adventure, craft breweries and high desert scenery along the Deschutes River.

    6.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing