Lindsey with Ruff Wear writes in to let us know about an event coming up this Saturday:

To celebrate the opening of the new off-leash dog park at Riverbend Beach in Bend, Oregon, Ruff Wear is hosting a demonstration and fitting event for our Big EddyT and PortageT lifejackets.

Come join us to try out and test the latest in canine water safety.

Date:
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Time:
12:30pm - 3:00pm
Location:
Bend, OR
Street:
Columbia Street and the Old Mill
City/Town:
Bend, OR

Here is more info on our facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=73846369537

Riverbend Beach is apparently the new park just southwest of the Columbia Street bridge in the Old Mill District.

I don't know the name of it, but some friends clued us in to what has to be one of the newest (if not the newest) park in Bend, located in the brand-new Pahlisch development in Northeast Bend. It's sandwiched in between Comet Lane and Wishing Well Lane (an area so new it isn't on the maps yet—just a blank lot), and it's really quite nice: park area with a playground, a half basketball court, benches, a nice picnic area.

The restrooms aren't finished yet—some of the crew were working on them when we visited earlier in the week—and (obviously) hardly anybody knows about it. It serves the neighborhoods in that area well, though, and it looked like there were walking/running trails coming to and fro.

No sign that I can see online anywhere, not even the Parks and Rec site! How'd they sneak this one in?

You can read the general introduction to this series here.

Why the Eastside Rocks #10:

Hollinshead Park & Barn

The historic Hollinshead Park is located in northeast Bend on 16.5 acres of former working ranch, dating back to 1939 when the Hollinshead family began working it as a homestead. In 1983 owners Dean and Lily Hollinshead donated it to the Park District to be preserved as a community park.

The renovated Barn is the main feature of the site, which has become a popular place for weddings and other private events. It's a nice place; we've been there for several kids functions and I was impressed—it's a nice big space that can accommodate up to 125 guests.

The Share Croppers House museum is also there in the park, as is the community garden. Yes, community garden; individual plots are provided to all members of the community during the growing season, and it's supported via volunteer efforts, too.

Though completely kid-friendly, this isn't a playground park: much of the space is open field and orchard. Perfect for running and games, just don't expect monkeybars and swings—bring balls and frisbees instead.

(Image courtesy of Bend Parks & Rec.)

Ah, summertime in Central Oregon: there's a ton of things to do, but not everything comes cheap. So I got to thinking about what does come cheap, and compiled a list: The Top 8 Free Activities. Or Nearly Free. Basically, I'm listing things that you can do in or around Bend with a minimum of expense and driving, and without requiring any special equipment and gear.

In no particular order:

1. Climb Pilot Butte. Do it for the exercise and the scenery! The trailhead access is on the east side of the Butte, and there are two trails to choose from: the nature trail and the paved road. From the top of Pilot Butte the view of Bend and the surrounding area is spectacular.
2. Float the river. Put in the water at just below the Bill Healy Bridge (Reed Market Road) at Farewell Bend Park and enjoy a leisurely trip through the Old Mill District and towards downtown. Be sure to avoid going under the Colorado Street bridge—there were several drownings there last year.
   
   • The Bulletin has a short article about this, including a "Plan your Float" list and a map of the floatable area that shows stops for the "Ride the River" bus.
   • This isn't entirely free—you'll need to shell out for an inner tube or other type of flotation device (if you don't already have one). However, various flotation toys can be had at the box stores for relatively cheap, and Les Schwab sells a heavier-duty inner tube for $17.50. On the plus side, you can use this over and over throughout the summer, so it's money well spent if you get out on the river a lot. You'll still have to provide the air—or cough up a quarter or two at a gas station for it.
3. Munch and Music. Every Thursday evening from mid-July through mid-August, head down to Drake Park to listen to free music. There's also arts and craft vendors to check out and plenty of food booths (but ya gotta pay for that).
4. Munch and Movies. Just like Munch and Music—only you see a free movie, it's on Friday nights, and located in McKay Park. These run from mid-August through mid-September, picking up after Munch and Music winds down.
5. Bicycling/mountain biking. C'mon, everyone has a bike, right? Bend is a really bike-friendly town: not only is it nice to ride around the town itself (downtown, "old town," and the westside in particular), but there's a multitude of choices for trails and bike routes if you have a mountain bike. The Deschutes River Trail ($5 Day Pass), Phil's Trail (free), and the Swampy Lakes Loop (free) are just a few examples. Want more local biking resources? Check out BikeMecca.com.
6. Go caving. Whether it's the caves off of China Hat Road or the Lava River Cave, there will be a bit of driving for this activity.
   
   • Lava River Cave: $5 for the Day Pass. Bring your own light (or pay an additional $3 to rent one). Perfect way to beat the summer heat—in fact, bring a jacket! It's a constant 40-45 degrees inside the cave, which runs for over a mile underground. It's located 12.5 miles south of Bend on Highway 97 (one mile past Lava Lands Visitor Center).
   • China Hat Road Caves: These are closer to Bend than the Lava River Cave, and don't require a Day Pass (ie, free). But they are harder to find and you absolutely have to bring your own light. The caves are Arnold Ice Cave, Skeleton Cave, Boyd Cave, and Wind Cave, all located off China Hat/Forest Road 18 approximately six miles southeast of town. Skeleton Cave may be inaccessible, however; in 2005 the Forest Service removed the staircase due to vandalism. Also be aware that these caves are bat habitats.
7. Take the Heritage Walk. Ever been wandering around downtown and noticed the historical marker plaques for certain buildings and houses? Well, the Deschutes County Historical Society has a booklet they've published that lays out a self-guided walking tour of these historical sites. Each of the more than 40 historic sites is detailed in the booklet along with a map of their locations—plenty to space this out over several days or weeks, and enjoy seeing a fair amount of older Bend. The Heritage Walk booklet is available from the Society for $3, or you can try to check out the Library's copy for free.
8. Free Summer Sundays Concerts at the Les Schwab Amphitheater. Every Sunday from June through August, the Les Schwab Amphitheater hosts free concerts. Shows start at 2:30, gates open at 1:00. Their website sums it up nicely:
   

   Bring your sweetheart, kids, puppies (on leashes), friends or just yourself and enjoy a sunny afternoon of world-class music. Bring your own picnic or stop by one of our great food vendors, or the Sidelines Sports Bar family-friendly beer garden for a cold cerveza. Kids must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to enter.

Is this an ultimate list? Not hardly! I was originally shooting for 10 things, but ran into blogger's block coming up with two more and wanted have this posted before summer was over. Other cool things I missed, or comments on what I've picked? Discuss below.

The sign (simply a list of credits), and the park under development.

I noticed some construction going on at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Lava Road downtown, on the northeastern corner that is otherwise bare (you can see it in the Google Maps photo, in the center). All the dirt's turned over, piles of it, and there's landscaping going in. There's a sign reading "Mary Jane's Park" with some text, but I haven't yet been able to stop and read it (or take a picture).

A Google search led me to a PDF from the Deschutes County Historical Landmark Commission—the April 2004 meeting minutes. Under the "Mini Park" issue, here's some of the text:

There will be a kiosk, three benches, plants, a light fixture. Perry gave a handout to the Commissioners showing several designs of Bend City Park kiosks. He felt the best model was one from Hollingshead Park. They have done research on fonts for the sign. Samples of cedar shakes and donated timber for the kiosk and benches were shown. The bench is a design from mirror pond. It is four feet wide with an open design. It is mounted with two steel posts painted black.

A plant list was also submitted. They will be mostly native, berry type shrubs to attract birds. The list was provided by Central Oregon Vegetative Zones comprised by Chris Hart Anderson. The light bulb would be a 40 watt, single fixture.

...Douglas Knight asked what the name of the park would be. Nunzie Gould answered that one name has been suggested, Mary Jane Park , she is a 50-year resident of the neighborhood. Douglas Knight would like to see a name that adds to the historic nature of the area. For financial reasons did they decided not to put a back on the bench. Perry said it made for better sight through the park with no back and people would not linger on bench.

Don Stevens asked about irrigation. Perry says Debra Hogan will recommend that the City provide water to the park. Jim, neighbor, will provide power. Don Stevens commented that since the light fixture is hidden, could a jelly jar fixture work. Perry says he would be happy with a center hanging fixture instead of the side mounted one.

Jon Sholes asked if the irrigation would be underground or a drip system. He felt there would be some damage done in this park. Perry says it will definitely be underground. It would be a three system control with a timer.

"Mini" is the right term; the park will only be about a tenth of an acre. I'm pretty sure this will make it the smallest park in town; the two current smallest that I can find on the Parks & Rec list are Pageant Park, at 0.29 acres (though it's adjacent to Harmon Park—does that count?), and the Hixon Park Block, at 0.3 acres (located near McKay Park).

This is one of those things which is not immediately obvious but contains a ton of useful information: the Bend Parks and Rec site has a listing of all parks in the city area. For awhile now, I was interested in the fact that Google Maps shows the names and locations of all the known parks, but I wanted more info, and found the Parks and Rec listing.

But a couple of things with that. I don't think the Parks and Rec listing is fully up to date—at least, based on some discrepancies between Google Maps and P&R. For instance, Google Maps shows "Skyliner Summit Park", but that doesn't show up on the P&R list anywhere.

On the other hand, Google doesn't show Foxborough Park, and P&R does. So it's not clear who's the most authoritative.

Another interesting thing: P&R has an "interactive map" of the parks, tied to their listings. However, the "interactive" part of this map is a bit limited—it's simply a clickable image map. In this day and age, I want to see the Google Maps functionality built into a true interactive map. Or at least, the P&R map should highlight on the image where a park is when you roll over the text listing (go to the page and you'll see what I mean).

Overall, between Parks & Rec and Google Maps, there's a pretty comprehensive directory of Bend parks available. Now if they could only be organized and merged in an easily-searchable single location...

We have a GIS (geographic information system) computer set up at work, fully loaded with Deschutes County data. One of the things I've found interesting is to data mine the system to find (among other things) all the parks in Bend (something you can also do with Google Maps), and I've found one in the system that I can't find in other sources—that is to say, it's flagged as a park area in our data, but not listed publicly that I can find: something called the "Sugarbowl site."

Anybody have any idea what this is? It's located off Ramsay Road, just east of 15th, and it's about a half acre of land. Beyond that, no idea... sounds like an excursion might be in order.