Bend is the largest city in Central Oregon and the seat of Deschutes County, with a 2026 population of roughly 109,000 spread across the high desert in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range. Founded as a lumber town on the Deschutes River, Bend reinvented itself after its last mill closed in 1983: the old Brooks-Scanlon site is now the Old Mill District, a roughly 270-acre stretch of shops, restaurants, and galleries along the riverbank that draws thousands of visitors a year. The city sits at the foot of Mt. Bachelor, a 9,065-foot volcanic peak about 22 miles west anchoring one of Oregon's largest ski areas, and Pilot Butte — an extinct cinder cone rising directly within city limits — is one of only a handful of volcanoes inside a US city, with a paved road to a summit view of the Cascades. Bend is also one of America's most concentrated craft-beer towns: the self-guided Bend Ale Trail links more than 30 breweries and tasting rooms across the region, anchored downtown by Deschutes Brewery, one of Oregon's oldest and largest craft breweries.
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