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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03.13.25
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Explore veteran history with Patty Limerick The experiences of U.S. military veterans who lived and served over the last 200-plus years are essential to understanding the history of the West. Join renowned historian Patty Limerick, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, as she shares insights into her recent research with student veterans of (more…)
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03.15.25
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Join the Museum and our partners in continuing the celebration of Black history in the High Desert! This will be an evening of storytelling, connection and small-group conversation. While we often learn about Black leaders of the past, there are many in our community who do amazing work today. Engage with these living ancestors, honor (more…)
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03.22.25
11:00 am - 2:30 pm
Raptors take flight overhead in this intimate demonstration. Experience these powerful predators like never before as our wildlife specialists showcase the birds’ agility and grace. 11:00 am and 1:30 pm daily during spring break $7, members receive 20% discount This is a first come, first seat event with doors closing promptly on the hour. Tickets (more…)
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03.29.25
11:00 am
Raptors take flight overhead in this intimate, indoor demonstration. Experience these powerful predators like never before as our wildlife specialists showcase the birds’ agility and grace. This is a first come, first seat event with doors closing promptly on the hour. Tickets are $7 per person and can be bought at Museum admissions. 11:00 am (more…)
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04.01.25
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Join Professor Michael Holloman (Colville Confederated Tribes), film and media scholar Glen Mimura and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Beth Harrington for an exploration of Frank Matsura’s life and portraits. This panel discussion will consider Matsura’s experiences as a Japanese-born photographer and the nuanced perspective that his photographs provide of Native communities in the early 1900s. 6:30 (more…)
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04.04.25
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Homeschool Day is your chance to experience a field trip at the High Desert Museum. For just $12 a person, you can participate in a fully facilitated interactive and interdisciplinary day focused on learning about water in our region. You’ll observe animals, practice panning for gold, learn about caring for water since time immemorial and (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.
12.7.24 -
4.6.25
Art
Neighbors: Wildlife Paintings by Hilary Baker
Featuring more than one dozen contemporary works, accomplished painter Hilary Baker explores the complex relationship between manmade spaces and native wildlife. Highlighting iconic architecture and wildlife as both prominent and enigmatic, each work invites an encounter and raises questions about our own proximity to wildlife.
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.
