Sunriver Resort is a luxury resort and residential community in central Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The resort is located at the edge of the high desert, just east of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

, in Sunriver, south of Bend and south-southeast of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. The common areas throughout the Sunriver resort community are managed by the Sunriver Owner's Association. The elevation of the resort is above sea level.

History

Sunriver's land used to be a lake bed, which dried out and became a meadow. It was a meeting place for Native Americans living in the area and was later adopted by settlers, trappers, and explorers, including

Peter Skene Ogden Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein, or Skeen; baptised 12 February 1790 – 27 September 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and an early explorer of what is now British Columbia and the Western United States. During his many expedi ...

, Kit Carson, and John Fremont, who led expeditions along the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: * Deschutes River (Oregon) **Little Deschutes River (Oregon) The Little Deschutes River is a tributary of the Deschutes River (Oregon), Deschutes River in the central part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is about lon ...

in the early-to-mid-19th century. In 1943, the meadow was claimed as a training ground for combat construction battalions of the U.S. Army and was established as

Camp Abbot Camp Abbot was a Military education and training, military training center in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, located in Central Oregon, central Oregon south of Bend, Oregon, Bend. Active for less than sixteen months, the United Sta ...

. Construction was started on the camp in November 1942 and it officially opened when Colonel Frank S. Benson assumed command on May 12, 1943. It closed soon after

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

in July 1944 and most of the buildings were razed. The officer's club, constructed from native logs and stones, was left standing and is now the "Great Hall," used for meetings and weddings. Following the war, the land returned to use as a cattle ranch until the mid-1960s. In 1965, Donald V. McCallum (1918–1987), a Portland attorney, and John D. Gray (1919–2012), founder of

Omark Industries Oregon Tool, Inc. is an American company that manufactures saw chain and other equipment for the forestry, agriculture, and construction industries. Based in Portland, Oregon, Oregon Tool globally manufactures their products in ten different plant ...

, bought the land and planned to build a luxury resort on it. Their idea was to create a resort and residential community with a focus on maintaining the integrity of the environment, including creating a finite number of home sites. The first home site at Sunriver was sold on June 28, 1968, and ground was broken on the resort's lodge in mid-August, which opened in September 1969. The resort that McCallum and Gray established was bought in 1993 by Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership, who began an extensive capital improvement program.

The Resort

Sunriver Resort offers a variety of accommodations, including luxury guest rooms and suites, as well as 400 vacation rental properties. It has five dining areas, three tennis facilities, family recreation, and is home to the Sage Springs Club and Spa. The resort has over of meeting and banquet space. The resort is home to three golf courses: Meadows, Woodlands, and Crosswater. Crosswater, named one of "America's 100 Greatest Courses" by

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competiti ...

, and was the home of the JELD-WEN Tradition, a major championship on the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

from 2007 to 2010. The Meadows golf course was designed by acclaimed architect John Fought and the Woodlands golf course was designed by the renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. The region's primary winter attraction, Mount Bachelor ski area, is about 20 minutes away by vehicle.

References

External links

Sunriver ResortSunriver Area Chamber of Commerce''Environmentally Conscious Design: A Case Study of Sunriver, Oregon''
{{coord, 43.87, -121.45, source:googlemapssatellite_region:US-OR_type:landmark_dim:5000, display=title Buildings and structures in Deschutes County, Oregon Hotels in Oregon Resorts in Oregon Tourist attractions in Deschutes County, Oregon 1968 establishments in Oregon