Sisters: Trails, Culture and Starry Skies

Sisters combines charming facades dating from the 1880s with a small-town atmosphere. Mountain biking, music, textile art, and stargazing each add a different note. If you’re looking for a vacation rental for your stay, you might first ask which side of the town you want to shape your trip.

Mountain Bike Trails and Scenic Bikeways

The Peterson Ridge Trails are a mountain bike trail network in Sisters. After its expansion in 2008, it includes more than 20 miles of singletrack trails. The main trailhead is about half a mile south of downtown. One specific route in this area is the Peterson Ridge Overlook Route: it is designated as a mountain biking route, is about 10.6 miles long, and is rated moderate. This makes it possible to consider the size of the trail network separately from the distance and rating of a named route.

A longer ride is the 38-mile McKenzie Pass Scenic Bikeway. It begins in Sisters, crosses McKenzie Pass, and ends at Belknap Hot Springs. The route is rated extreme; narrow or nonexistent shoulders and steep climbs are cited as reasons. The Sisters to Smith Rock Scenic Bikeway is a 42-mile bike ride from downtown Sisters to Smith Rock State Park.

The bikeways mentioned differ not only in length, but also in their starting and ending points. When choosing a vacation rental, it may therefore help to first consider whether you’re mainly interested in the mountain bike trail network in Sisters or a longer bike ride with a specific destination. The stated difficulty is also an important part of comparing the McKenzie Pass Scenic Bikeway.

Rodeo, Music, and Textile Art

The Sisters Rodeo is a family-friendly tradition supported by the community. The genre-spanning Sisters Folk Festival, held on seven stages in Sisters, offers a different cultural focus. The two events therefore offer different starting points for planning a trip: a community tradition on one hand, and a festival featuring various music genres on the other.

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show features more than 1,300 quilts by textile artists from around the world. Quilt Week also includes classes and workshops led by master quilters. Those interested in textile design will find not only an exhibition here, but also classes and workshops. Sisters also has galleries featuring ceramic art—another cultural note alongside its events.

Starry Skies and Getting Oriented in Town

Sisters is known for clear nights and low light pollution, which make it well suited to stargazing. So, alongside the cycling routes, evenings under the stars are another possible focus. The interests you’d like to combine during your stay can help shape your decision to visit Sisters.

The Sisters Visitor Information Center is located downtown. It provides guidebooks, magazines, and brochures to help with planning a stay in Sisters and trips around Central Oregon. Together with the facades dating from the 1880s and the small-town atmosphere, this makes for a picture of a town that combines cultural discoveries with practical information.

Discover more destinations: La Pine, Bend, Deschutes River Woods.

For the broader travel overview: Deschutes.