What is there to do in Bend with a 2 yr old?

[misskitty100]

We are heading to Bend this week with our 2 yr old. Could anyone suggest some nice parks where he could spend some quality time running around? We are driving from Seattle (6 hrs) so any type of driving activity is NOT what we are looking for .

I would like to take him to the hot air balloon gathering this weekend and maybe the Sisters Rodeo Parade if that isn't too crowded -- any other suggestions or advice?

Also, what about some kid friendly restaurants?

[Escher]

There are some nice lava tubes in the area if you are into spelunking.

Also, IIRC, some great climbing rocks (Smith Rocks?) I need to get a map.

Oh, crap--you are with a two year old.

Well, still, the lava tubes I went to were very walkable, at least for the distance a 2 yo could go.

[stacy7272]

Originally posted by Escher
There are some nice lava tubes in the area if you are into spelunking.

Also, IIRC, some great climbing rocks (Smith Rocks?) I need to get a map.

Oh, crap--you are with a two year old.

Well, still, the lava tubes I went to were very walkable, at least for the distance a 2 yo could go.

We were up in the Bend area last summer with my almost 4 year old and almost 2 year old and we went in the lava tubes! DS (almost 4) was fine and I did have to carry DD (almost 2) most of the way but I could actually do it. If your child is more into actually walking than mine then they can do much of the caves (not all) by him/herself.

Inside the tubes it is generally cold so dress accordingly if you go but you end up warming up after you walk a bit (especially if you carry you two year old for any amount of time). You can rent a lantern to go inside because it is pitch black in there! We also brought a flashlight which was fun for the kids to hold (and safer too).

Right by the lava tubes is an inactive volcano. We went up there and you can walk around the rim of the volcano (it was very cold and windy up there)! It is very doable for a 2 year old.

We also went to quite a few waterfalls. This involved a lot of driving to each one but you could get information about the different waterfalls and just go to one. There was one in particular that had a neat path to walk around (a very, very light type of hike that a 2 year old can do).

[lisas3575]

It's cold here this week, not sure how much you'll want to be out at a park. Right now it's raining and yesterday we had hail. The temps are low to mid 50s, though the weekend is supposed to start getting nicer again.

A good indoor activity would be Working Wonders children's museum. Lava Lands was fun when I was a kid, but 2 might be kind of young.

If the weather turns decent, there are a lot of fun parks. Drake park is fun with lots of geese and birds, and across the river is Harmon Park with fun play equipment.

HTH.