Cross Country and Skate Skiing in Central Oregon
Cross-country skiing seems to get more popular each year, and in Central Oregon whether you skate-ski or classic ski, there is no shortage of places to go.
Skate-skiing requires a skiing technique similar to ice skating and requires a wider groomed course. The most popular place to skate-ski is at the Mount Bachelor Nordic Center, where they have 56 kilometers of groomed tracks. The Nordic Center requires you to purchase a day pass or have a season pass to use the groomed trails. The Virginia Meissner Snow Park grooms a small portion of their trails for use by skate-skiers, and is free for use but requires a snow park pass (about $18 per year) to park there. If enough snow falls in Bend, the Bend Park and Recreation Department grooms a course at the Skyliner Sports Complex next to Cascade Middle School.
Classic cross country skiing involves skiing with your skis parallel to each other and following tracks set in the ground by a machine or by a previous skier. You could also create your own trail for others to follow by using your skis like snowshoes and packing down the snow. Since you don’t necessarily need to follow a groomed course, there are a lot more options available for classic style skiing. Mount Bachelor grooms most of their runs for both skate and classic skiing so for smooth groomed tracks Bachelor is your place. The Virginia Meissner Snow Park grooms some of the trails with classic tracks, but most of the trails are make your own or follow previous skiers. There are numerous other snow parks that have marked trails to follow, most of these are near Mount Bachelor including Swampy Lakes, Vista Butte, Dutchman Flats, and Edison snow parks. Skyliner Snow Park is out at the end of Skyliner Road and has marked trails that will take you out to Tumalo Falls.
For the forest service's maps of the snow parks click here.
For our business listings of the Nordic ski shops in Bend, click here.
