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    Elk Lake Resort

    3.3 (47 reviews)

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    View from my paddle board on the lake looking at Mt. Bachelor

    Absolutely beautiful lake, pristine day with sunshine and a lite breeze. This Lake is back behind (on the backside) of Mt Bachelor about 50 minutes West of Bend. It is an amazing lake and crystal clear deep blue water. It was surprisingly warm considering this is from snow melt. We will be back! The restaurant is meh, but with an ice cold beer there really isn't anything to complain about

    Bath house

    Stayed in basic winter cabins we brought at 56q cooler and 1 plastic tote and backpacks. Heater in cabin works good tried sorting up in loft first night actually was to hot second night down stairs in sleeping bag and sheet provided was enough. Bathroom is a good 5 min walk down to the shower/bathroom facility at the lodge. We brought a small grill for some food there is not cooking or eating things provided in cabin just bed heater table and lantern. Food at the lodge was much better than expected. There isn't any designated snowshoe or cross country ski trials we walked the road and hiked 6 lake trail to the first lake which was a good few hours spring like conditions.

    The number they told me to call the day of, which it turns out they don't answer until after the pickup vehicle has already departed.

    My wife and I were so excited to visit this place. It ended up being the most frustrating part of the whole vacation. Here's our story and you can make of it what you will. We booked a snowmobile rental from Elk Lake resort in early December. The rental cost about 500$ up front. It would have been our first time snowmobiling. I spoke to a nice woman on the phone who walked me through the whole process. Shortly after booking I received several emails detailing the transportation process for getting to the lodge. The process was: - get a snow park permit from a ski shop in town - drive up the mountain to a special parking lot - meet a tank-like vehicle at a designated spot there - drive to the lodge in the tank The guy who emailed me required that I *TWICE* confirm that I understand the directions. I did so. They were remarkably up my behind about confirming I understood the setup. In the email (attached a photo of this) they said "if you have any problem on the day of transport, call this number". So far, so good. The day of the rental my wife and I started to make our way up the mountain, and we encounter fairly heavy snow. We're from a snowy albeit not mountainous area and are not really strangers to this, but it's bad enough that we can't see ten feet in front of us. We get to the snow park 45 minutes early as instructed and decide to call the number in the email to hopefully get a little information about how the snow would affect things for the day. What was going through my head was: - confirm they were still going to run that day - see if they knew anything about the road conditions, plowing, etc (basically making sure we'd be safe coming down the mountain) - ask what to do if we got stuck Essentially just get some advice to make us feel a little peace of mind around what to do if we got stuck. This is where it unraveled, because no one picked up the phone. The pickup was supposed to be at 9AM. We called the number 6 times between 8am and 9am and we just went to voicemail every time. This is the number it said to call. They put it in bold text and yellow highlight in the email. Around 8:50AM we were having trouble maneuvering our vehicle (a grand Cherokee). Since we couldn't get in contact with anyone, we elected to leave and get back down while we were sure we still actually could. Around 9:40 AM I finally managed to get a woman on the phone for the most asinine conversation I think I've ever had. She basically told me that she doesn't answer the phone outside business hours which start at 9AM (the same time as the pickup lol). She tried to tell me that it was my fault because I didn't think to leave a voicemail any of the 6 times I called, and that she would have called me had I done so. NOWHERE IN THE INSTRUCTIONS that they had me confirm MULTIPLE TIMES said to do this. At one point she drew an unbelievably bizarre analogy where she compared them to a hospital and tried to convince me that if I didn't expect a hospital to call me back, neither should I expect a lodge where I have a booking to call me back. Still not sure I understand where she was going with this. I offered on the phone to work out a deal with them where we got back half the rental cost due to there being a miscommunication. I accepted some responsibility for being perhaps overly cautious of the weather and asked them to accept some responsibility for not answering the number they specifically told me to call on the day of, if there were any questions. Needless to say she told me to kick rocks, referenced their cancellation policy. You know, generally gave me the finger. Thanks guys. Thats the story. You can decide for yourself if you think we're in the wrong or them. They still have our 500$ though so they can have this review too.

    We spent two nights at Lake Creek in March 2023 and it was almost perfect. It dumped two feet of snow while we were there which was amazing. Half of our group of 11 cross country skied in and half took the CAT. The skiers felt it was difficult but doable ( only 2 skied out. The CAT ride was beautiful but not for the weak. Depending on road conditions it can be very bumpy and they do blast the heat so the engine doesn't overheat. The only reason I am not giving Elk Lake a perfect score was because of one particular driver both out and back. NOT the head guy who drove the truck with the gear but the young man who drove most of the guests. Probably one of the rudest people we have ever encountered in the "service" industry. The f bombs, rude remarks, curt answers. He was awe full and we got to endure him both ways. Not sure why Elk Lake keeps him on the payroll because everyone else we came into contact was delightful! I would highly recommend a winter trip out to Elk Lake just no that if you are going to use their transportation bring patience and be ready for a bumpy ride.

    There is a chipmunk in this photo of the marina from the restaurant

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    5 months ago

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    6 years ago

    We drove up to Elk Lake and ordered cheeseburgers...great.!.! Just a little windy as they were only serving outside

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    7 years ago

    Easy spot to rent a pattle board with amazing views. Went on a morning weekday was not crowded at all and there was plenty of parking.

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    7 years ago

    Love this place for the views and outdoor music. But the restaurant's food isn't what it used to be. Hope they get a new menu and chef.

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    10 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Don't order the $15 nachos. They're disgusting. Unless you enjoy "cheese product" from a can and a sloppy mess of inedible toppings.

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    11 years ago

    I am so disappointed ! Their menu changed. No healthy choices. Just bar food! Never again!!!

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    11 years ago

    Do yourself a favor, just bring your lunch from home. The food fine, but the kitchen is so slow.

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    Page 1 of 2

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    Review Highlights - Elk Lake Resort

    Most recently, we spent Christmas Eve there and stayed over night in one of the cabins after skiing into to the resort from Mt Bachelor.

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    Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe

    Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe

    4.2(98 reviews)
    0.8 mi
    $$

    On a Sunday morning, after exploring Bend and attending a concert the night before, my husband and…read moreI decided that we wanted to float the Deschutes River. Luckily, we managed to do a walk-up appointment and get our tubes for floating. They do offer online reservations, more than 24 hours in advance, but they had plenty of inner tubes so a reservation was not needed that particular day. From start to finish, they made the entire process extremely easy and seamless. From being able to park your car and get a ride with your inner tube to the drop off point and then being picked back up by the shuttle and returned to the parking lot, and everything in between. They provided us with a good safety briefing as well as the opportunity to leave our car keys since I had not thought about bringing a waterproof pouch. For just about $30 per person, it was well worth the experience and took us about two hours, but we did stop after the rapids and spend some time just swimming before continuing on. If you are a local or just visiting the Bend area, I cannot recommend floating the river enough.

    Meh. I thought the price was fair for the tubing experience, but they could provide such…read morebetter...several things, for customer enjoyment. (I've done the tube float down the Virgin River at Zion, and canoed and rafted countless rivers and lakes, several guided, some private.) The outhouses were full and needed to be serviced. So gross. We were there on a Sunday morning; perhaps yesterday was super busy?! Ew. Nobody offered to keep our keys. This is weird to me. Every raft/tube outfitter I've ever gone with has checked our keys for us. The tubes worked well and were fine. They're backless, though. Nicer models with backs and cup holders are so much better. The tip prompts are obnoxious. I paid for a service. Tipping is for people who go above and beyond. When I pay for a float, I shouldn't have a tip option presented right at booking. Weird. Then the driver also has a personal Venmo QR code on the bus. The only way I'd consider tipping is if I was personally fitted into a pfd, the driver handed me a water bottle or a slice of watermelon or something after the float, etc. They literally did nothing but hand us a life jacket, tell us where to get out of the river, and drive us to and from. They've been having issues with people missing the take out at Drake Park. We did see an employee on a kayak paddle out to help someone come in (she should tip him!), but otherwise there is no sign or anything, so if you're not paying attention you absolutely could miss it. To compare directly, on the Virgin River, an employee was standing IN the river, ready to help us, a huge sign was present, and another employee was on the shore to help carry tubes back to the trailer. Surely the city of Bend would allow them to erect a sign, even if only during business hours?! Or stack some of the orange tubes on the shore so floaters can see them clearly.

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    Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe
    Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe
    Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe - Join us on the backlawn for our Pickin' & Paddlin' live music and demo parties the last Wednesday of every month.

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    Join us on the backlawn for our Pickin' & Paddlin' live music and demo parties the last Wednesday of every month.

    Elk Lake Resort - lakes - Updated May 2026

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