Low snow sends Wanoga Sno-Play conditions downhill
The Deschutes National Forest advised sledders and tubers Thursday that a recent lack of snow has left the Wanoga Snow-Play hill icy, slushy and bare in places and, until conditions improve, officials recommend the public find other winter adventures on the forest.
Several permitted guides offer a wide variety of winter tours on the forest near Bend (contact tour companies for tour information and pricing):
” Wanderlust Tours offers guided snowshoe tours including moonlight tours and other fun options: www.wanderlusttours.com
” Central Oregon Adventures offers guided snowmobile tours and snowmobile rentals: www.coadventures.com
” Oregon Trail of Dreams offers winter sled dog rides at Mt. Bachelor. Advance reservations are required. Call 1-800-829-2442
” CogWild offers winter fat bike tours: www.cogwild.com
” Paulina Lake Lodge offers snowmobile tours: paulinalakelodge.com/snowmobiling
In addition, Snowblast Tubing at Mt. Bachelor www.mtbachelor.com will be operating this weekend.
The Forest Service and Discover Your Forest’s free snowshoe tours at Mt. Bachelor also will be operating this weekend. Two tours are offered daily at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tours start at the Forest Service snowshoe hut in Mt. Bachelor’s West Village.
Snowshoes are provided and no prior experience is necessary. Participants must be 10 years old or older, wear warm boots and clothing. Tours last about 90 minutes. No reservations are required for individuals, but groups with 6 or more people do require a reservation. Call the Snowshoe with a Ranger Hotline (541) 383-4055 for tour information. Contact Karen Gentry at (541) 383-4771 or karen.gentry@discovernw.org to schedule a group tour.
NewsChannel 21’s Emily Kirk paid a visit to the sledding hill late Thursday — where snow just happened to be falling — and will have a report on NewsChannel 21 First at Ten on Fox.
