Shevlin Park

By far Bend's largest park, analogous to Portland's Forest Park, Shevlin Park encompasses a distinct natural area of 652 acres.  Lying on the west end of the Bend's Urban Growth Boundary, the park is a 4-mile long preserve of the Tumalo Creek canyon and old-growth ponderosa pine ecosystem that is extremely popular with local hikers, trail runners, and mountain bikers.

The run off for Tumalo Creek originates on the eastern slopes of Broken Top and Tumalo Mountain. It carves its way through a once heavily-glaciated valley and creates a small canyon, where after roughly 21 miles, it eventually converges with the Deschutes River just south of Tumalo State Park.

The majority of the area for the park was donated to the City of Bend in 1920, and since then it has become a Mecca for outdoor recreation enthusiasts.  When arriving via Shevlin Park Road, you can think of the park in two sections: the Aspen Hall section to the north and the Fremont Meadows section to the south.  Aspen Hall is a decently-sized event space often used for weddings or small conferences and is served by a single trail that follows the banks of the creek, the Aspen Hall Trail.  The Fremont Meadows section is best known for its 6-mile long Loop Trail that primarily follows the rim of the canyon.  Both sides of the park, however, offer equally scenic views of the canyon and provide picnic shelters and barbeque areas ideal for a family outing.