SUNRIVER, Oregon — Ever heard of a bicycle resort? Me neither.
And yet Sunriver Resort still seems like one, even though it’s best known for 63 holes of inspiring golf.
Sunriver Resort, a 3,300-acre golf resort and residential community, sits in an idyllic meadow in central Oregon in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains 15 minutes south of Bend. Because there are no hills to climb or gears to shift, every generation of guest tends to ride traditional cruiser bicycles wherever they go. Grandparents with grandchildren, parents with sons and daughters, kids in a chaotic pack — they all cruise the more than 40 miles of paved paths from dawn to dusk.
Watching these old-school bicycles roll by sparks a wave of nostalgia. Remember pedaling to your best friend's house all summer as a kid? Guests can relive those good old days while vacationing at Sunriver.
“It’s something we don’t talk about enough, but our guests talk about it a lot. It’s just such a safe place,” says Josh Willis, vice president of operations for Sunriver. “Where else can you go and let your kids go outside in the morning and just ride their bikes around? ... The culture here is you pull in, you park and you take the keys and throw them away until you have to pack up and go home. You can take a bike wherever you want to go or you can take resort transportation. It’s pretty awesome.”
So is just about everything at Sunriver, an oasis of outdoor recreation in the high desert.
SUNRIVER: FROM BOOT CAMP TO SUMMER CAMP
Legendary explorers Kit Carson and John Fremont were the first Americans to discover the land that makes up Sunriver in the 1800s. The duo led expeditions up the Deschutes River, which flows through the resort and Bend, providing a vital natural resource and recreational waterway.
In 1943, the U.S. Army created Camp Abbot here, which provided instruction in military construction and engineering, as well as basic training through 1944. It was during this era that Sunriver Resort’s grand Great Hall was erected as an officers’ club. Two decades later, in 1965, the property began its transformation into one of the Pacific Northwest's premier resort communities. Today, the more than 4,000 permanent and vacation homes regularly command million-dollar price tags.
For residents, Sunriver is home, an everyday country club stocked with first-class amenities, including a freshly renovated wellness spa, 11 restaurants and cafes, a sprawling indoor-outdoor aquatics center and event venues. Visitors experience Sunriver as an elegant escape. Its 245 guest rooms and suites and over 400 vacation homes and condominiums are available for weekend getaways or extended stays. Summer adventures beyond cycling or golf range from kayaking, tennis and fishing to horseback riding. The 18-court Pickleball Pavilion is the most expansive complex of any resort in the Pacific Northwest. Off the property, guests can explore underground lava tubes, sample Bend's renowned craft breweries or tackle whitewater rafting adventures.
Back to the bikes.
Sunriver boasts a fleet of more than 4,000 for rent at the Bike Barn. Additional rental shops can be found in the charming Village at Sunriver, home to restaurants and boutiques that are well worth pedaling to see. The climate certainly promotes riding before winter brings snow.
Central Oregon is blessed with 300 days of sunshine year-round, a stark contrast to the state's rain-soaked coastline. Summer temperatures typically range between 75 and 85 degrees, although mornings and evenings cool off thanks to the resort's 4,200-foot elevation. On hot days, human trains of inner tubes float the river to cool down. A run of rapids near downtown Bend will get the heartbeat thumping, for sure.
CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF RETURNS TO SUNRIVER
Golf at Sunriver offers an experience few resorts can match.
Only golfers staying on the property or members can book tee times on three different courses — Meadows, Woodlands and Crosswater — plus the nine-hole Caldera Links short course.
Being resort private, all of the courses are kept in good condition and aren’t burdened with pace-of-play issues found on public courses. Golfers tour Sunriver’s natural wetlands and wildlife by playing holes framed with towering lodgepole and ponderosa pines.
“The golf experience at Sunriver Resort has never been better,” Willis said.
Crosswater was designed as Sunriver’s alpha. It features a separate membership within Sunriver, operating out of its own clubhouse. A $395 green fee, double that of the other courses, keeps it even more exclusive, a splurge to play one of America’s premier resort courses.
Architect Bob Cupp was given more than 600 acres to find an ideal routing. Crosswater could be his finest work, leapfrogging the Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers seven times throughout the round. It boasts a championship pedigree that’s growing. It hosted a PGA Tour Champions major, the JELD-WEN Tradition, from 2007 to 2010, as well as PGA Professional National Championships in 2001, 2007, 2013 and 2017. A couple of United States Golf Association championships — the 2031 U.S. Mid-Amateur and the 2036 U.S. Junior Amateur — are on tap. After a round, the Crosswater Grille attracts a lively dinner crowd, especially on weekends.
Meanwhile, the Meadows and Woodlands are nearing completion on significant improvement projects. Hundreds of trees have been removed at Woodlands to restore the original playing corridors. Willis said those trees were not part of Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s 1981 design. “Over time your fairways start to shrink, and the course doesn’t handle the winter as well,” he added. “The removal of these trees will ultimately ensure that we have a healthier course.”
The Meadows is preparing to host back-to-back U.S. Adaptive Opens in 2027 and 2028. In addition to new tee boxes, bunkers are being reshaped to funnel golf balls onto flatter lies, while new sand ramps will allow cart-assisted players to enter and exit safely.
Sunriver has embraced adaptive golf in meaningful ways. The resort partnered with the U.S. Adaptive Golf Alliance to train its PGA Professionals in adaptive instruction and works alongside Oregon Adaptive Sports and the Adaptive Golf Academy to host monthly clinics throughout the golf season. Individuals with physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities are invited to attend and learn the game in a supportive environment.
“It was very obvious in our region, there’s a need for someone to provide this opportunity,” Willis said. “For us, it made great sense. Awareness [of adaptive golf] will grow.”
As will the legend of Sunriver, a magical playground where bikes and birdies share equal billing.
