Smoke leaves Riverbend Park empty; Bend hotel visitor counts down sharply

(Update: Visit Bend occupancy data released)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- On Tuesday, Riverbend Park was mostly devoid of any human activity, due to the smoke.

Just last month, Riverbend Park was packed with activity, with visitors taking their paddleboards and kayaks out on the water as joggers made their way around the trail.

Kevney Dugan, the CEO of Visit Bend, shared the latest weekly report of out-of-town visitors traveling to Bend with NewsChannel 21 Wednesday.

The data shows lodging occupancy rates were off 23% on Friday and 38% on Saturday, compared with the same weekend last year.

"This indicates to me that many canceled weekend plans due to smoke, which is what we all assumed," Dugan said.

The smoke did not stop some from continuing their travels to the area, although it posed some other barriers.

NewsChannel 21 spoke Tuesday with a man at Riverbend Park, who had just arrived to Bend from Portland. He preferred not to give his name.

He said he worked temporary odd jobs before he became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said his mom, who lives in La Pine, is trying to help him find a place to stay until he can find another job.

He said the smoke makes the job hunt more difficult.

"The DMV is closed for the next couple days," he said. "They haven't even specified how long it's going to be closed for, so I can't get my license to start."

He also said getting to Bend from Portland took longer than he had planned, due to the smoke and fire danger closing many bus and train routes.