Sunriver Bike Paths and Volcanoes

Sunriver, Oregon, is a great little town near Bend, Oregon, that offers lots of options for travelers wanting to sightsee on foot or on a bike. It’s a newer community, developed in 1965, on the site of a former army camp. What’s great about Sunriver is how easy it is to explore the community and the surrounding recreational areas. The bike pathways of Sunriver provide access to the Deschutes National Forest and the historic volcanoes that created the Central Oregon landscape. So many opportunities for cycling, mountain biking and hiking!

I came across the town of Sunriver when I was researching my trip to Bend, Oregon. Coming from a part of the country that doesn’t exactly have a bike friendly infrastructure, I was excited to visit an area known for its biking- both road and mountain bike.

In Sunriver I found a small resort town with a network of bike paths that encouraged their use over that of a vehicle. As a bonus, I discovered the Sunriver Pathways connect to the Sun Lava Trail, which leads to the Lava Lands section of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. If you’ve seen my Instagram or any of my posts about hiking, you’ll know I love waterfalls. Oh so conveniently, the Sun Lava Trail takes you to the Benham Falls area of Lava Lands. Biking, hiking and a waterfall in one afternoon- woo hoo!

Sunriver Bike Rentals

I rented a hybrid bike from Sunriver Sports in the Village at Sunriver. They also have mountain bikes if those are more your style. The bike paths also connect to mountain bike trails. To begin, I followed the path along Beaver drive towards circle 7. As you near circle 7, you’ll start to see signage pointing you to the Sun Lava Trail. The pathways have excellent signage and you’ll find maps along your way, but you can pick up a map from Sunriver Sports. It’s about 4 miles to the Sun Lava trailhead.

Sun Lava Trail

The Sun Lava Trail is also paved and is not part of Sunriver. It’s in the Deschutes National Forest, so once on it you leave behind the Sunriver condos and are surrounded by majestic pine trees. In about two miles you’ll arrive at the Benham Falls trailhead. Given I was on a rented bike, I opted to hop off and walk the half mile to the falls.

Many people rode their bikes down the wide path, but I recommend walking it. The path winds along the Deschutes River and you can better soak in the beauty by walking. After crossing the river and starting down the main path, take the narrower dirt path that runs closer to the river. It’s well maintained but much less traveled. I could tell not many people walk it because I completely surprised a pair a large bluejays as they were sunbathing.

As you wind your way along the Deschutes, the river goes from calm and flowing to wild and churning as it approaches and then gushes over Benham Falls. The side path I mentioned above gives the best, close-up look at this. I also love that on the opposite river bank there’s a view of the lava flows from when the Lava Butte erupted 7,000 years ago.

After visiting Benham Falls, you can take a side trip (about two miles) to the Lava Lands Visitors Center for a closer look at Lava Butte and the surrounding lava flows. If you have a day to explore the area, I highly recommend doing this. The 360 degree views from atop Lava Butte are amazing. I was there on a mostly cloudy day, but on a clear day you can see Newberry Caldera and Mt. Bachelor looming in the distance.

On my way back to Sunriver I decided to take a different pathway because, as you know, why do an out and back route when you can create a loop! I’m so glad I decided on a loop because the views along the river route I chose were gorgeous!

Bike pathways Loop Ride

When the Sun Lava trail joins back up with the Sunriver bike path network at circle 7, follow signs for the river route. Keep following the river as far as the paths will take you. Follow signs for the nature center and the stables to continue following along the river. Eventually, the path turns back towards the village- circles 1 and 2. I followed signs pointing towards the village to get back to Sunriver Sports to return my bike.

Whether for a half day or full day, I highly recommend renting a bike in Sunriver to explore. I had mine for three hours and was able to ride most of the Sunriver pathways network plus ride the Sun Lava Trail and hike to Benham Falls. I recommend another couple hours for exploring the rest of the Lava Lands area of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

For a truly full day, schedule time to tour the Lava River Cave. It’s a mile long lava tube formed when the Newberry Caldera erupted 80,000 years ago. It’s not often you can say you walked through a lava tube!