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.
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
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04.25.25
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
From advocacy to aviation and kayaking, Pathfinders is a short film that explores how Thyreicia Simtustus, Kahmussa Green and Kiahna Allen are finding their own paths in balancing Native and non-Native worlds. Join us for a discussion with the director LaRonn Katchia and the young leaders from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs featured in (more…)
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04.26.25
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Join our wildlife team to learn about and photograph the wildlife in our care. Opportunities for portrait-style and action photography with raptors and mammals. Participants are welcome to explore what to expect and techniques for success during an optional preliminary Zoom meeting on Friday, April 25 at 6:30 pm. 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Saturday, (more…)
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05.01.25
11:45 pm
Calling all emerging, mid-career and established nonfiction writers! Don’t miss your opportunity to submit your writing to the 2025 Waterston Desert Writing Prize. The Prize honors creative nonfiction that illustrates artistic excellence, sensitivity to place and desert literacy, with the desert as both subject and setting. The Prize winner receives a $3,000 cash award and (more…)
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05.03.25
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
The 2025 Kids Curate exhibition at the Museum, curated by fourth graders from La Pine Elementary, focuses on the diverse perspectives of fire — as an agricultural tool to a community threat to a natural process. Artist Jake Kenobi visited La Pine Elementary to share his techniques with the students. He assisted students in creating “studio (more…)
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05.05.25
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The High Desert boasts some of the darkest night skies in the continental United States. Increasing light pollution emanating from developed areas, however, threatens the health of both nocturnal wildlife and humans. One community is taking the lead in protecting Central Oregon’s dark skies: the City of Sisters. In the last year and a half, (more…)
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05.08.25
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
A quieter time for children and adults who experience physical, intellectual and/or social disabilities to enjoy the High Desert Museum after hours. Explore the Museum’s newest exhibitions and revisit your favorites. Sensory packs are available to borrow with headphones, fidgets and more. 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm FREE for individuals, friends and family RSVP required. (more…)
Changing
Exhibits
11.2.24 -
6.29.25
History
Blood, Sweat & Flannel
Flannel is more than a fabric. Flannel shirts, jackets and undergarments have played an important role for laborers in the High Desert. Workers have donned flannel as they logged trees and roped cattle. Later, grunge counterculture adopted flannel as a nod to nonfashion. Blood, Sweat & Flannel explores the region’s labor history though the lens of the beloved fabric.
2.1.25 -
9.7.25
Art, History
Frank S. Matsura: Portraits from the Borderland
Featuring more than 30 large-format photos from the dawn of the 20th century, this exhibition showcases Frank S. Matsura's (1873-1913) masterful attention to detail photographing Indigenous families near his studio in Washington state's Okanagan County near the Canadian border. Matsura, a Japanese immigrant, connected with the Indigenous tribes in the cultural and geographic "borderland."
2.22.25 -
10.5.25
Science, Natural History
Patterns at Play: Fractals in Nature
Fractals are never-ending patterns that repeat the same shape at bigger and smaller scales. From mountain ranges and the galaxy to snow crystals and brain neurons, fractals big and small exist all around us. Step inside this fun, funky and family-friendly exhibit. You can learn to build a fractal, listen to the sound of sonic fractals, relax in a bean bag chair and watch an animation create new fractals right before your eyes. Are you ready to be mesmerized?
The Institute of Museum and Library Services named the High Desert Museum as one of six recipients of the 2021 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities.
The Museum was recognized for providing dynamic programming and services through community outreach, working to create programs that offer rich educational programming and expand museum access.
