the High Desert
National Medal!
Mighty Beaver
The Museum requires face coverings indoors and outdoors. Thank you for helping keep our community healthy and safe!
About the Museum
Plan Your Visit
Check out current exhibits and daily programs, find directions, rates, hours and more.
Education
Teach & Learn
Lifelong learning starts here! Explore teacher trainings, memorable field trips and unique school programs.
Join the HDM Family
Make an Impact
Volunteer, become a member or donate to support arts, education, wildlife and more.
The Museum
Wildlife,
History & Art
Otters, porcupines, owls, oh my! Encounter wildlife up close, explore the history and culture of the wild West and take in beautiful art. The High Desert Museum is a cultural gem set on 135 acres of awe. It’s no wonder visitors voted us one of the best things to do in Bend Oregon!
Upcoming
Events
Upcoming Events
- 09.18.21
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
The Smithsonian’s National Collection of Fishes represents more than 70 percent of the world’s fish specimens and is the largest and most diverse collection of its kind in the world. Although the x-rays featured in the national collection were made for research purposes, the strikingly elegant images demonstrate the natural union of science and art (more…)
- 09.21.21
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Come on an adventure! Children ages 3-5* and their caregivers investigate science, art, music, stories and culture in a fun, hands-on manner. Don backpacks filled with exciting objects while journeying through the Museum’s nature trails and exhibits. New themes weekly! Tuesday, September 21 – Museum in the Making If you could create any kind (more…)
- 09.28.21
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Come on an adventure! Children ages 3-5* and their caregivers investigate science, art, music, stories and culture in a fun, hands-on manner. Don backpacks filled with exciting objects while journeying through the Museum’s nature trails and exhibits. New themes weekly! Tuesday, September 28 – Art Adventure Connect with new friends, move and explore on (more…)
- 09.29.21
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Deserts have long offered rich inspiration for the written word. Join the winner and finalists from the 2021 Waterston Desert Writing Prize for an evening of readings and literary discussion exploring this complex landscape. In addition, 2021 Waterston Guest Judge Elizabeth Woody (Navajo, Warm Springs, Wasco, Yakama) will do a reading. A writer, poet and (more…)
- 09.30.21
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Due to increased COVID-19 cases across the state, we are postponing this event. We look forward to rescheduling it and celebrating with Kevin Fedarko in the coming months! Please check back for updates. The Grand Canyon is arguably one of the jewels of America’s natural wonders, yet it remains wild, mysterious and— even as a (more…)
- 10.03.21
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Don’t miss the final day of the original High Desert Museum exhibit Dam It! Beavers and Us. In the Pleistocene era, a mammal that was up to eight feet long and 220 pounds roamed what is now the High Desert and beyond. One incisor tooth excavated from Oregon’s South Yamhill River in 2017 measured three (more…)
Changing
Exhibits
9.18.21 -
3.6.22
Natural History, Art
X-Ray Vision
When many of us think of X-rays, we think of peering beneath the skin to detect an illness or injury. Imagine using the technology to see into vertebrates with the goal of learning evolutionary stories.
1.30.21 -
10.3.21
Natural History, Art
Dam It! Beavers and Us
Explore an important member of the order Rodentia and the interrelationship of people, beavers and the landscape.
7.29.21 -
10.16.21
Art
Art in the West
Art in the West is an annual juried exhibition and silent auction featuring traditional and contemporary art that celebrates the landscapes, wildlife, people, cultures and history of the High Desert—a region that stretches from the eastern slope of the Cascades and Sierras to the Wyoming Basin and Colorado Plateau and Northern Arizona to southeastern British Columbia.
the West
Through Memory
Ranch
Birds of
Prey Center
Otter Exhibit
