Part 2: A practical guide to appreciating seasonal changes, deepening your local natural history knowledge, and relishing the longer daylight hours

On March 19, we’ll experience that beautiful balance of light and dark, with sunrise at 7:09 am and sunset at 7:19 pm.

Our last post offered an assortment of spring cleaning tips. In this second installment of our two-part guide to making the most of spring in Central Oregon, we’re suggesting a few ideas for memorable and fun springtime activities and learning.

It wouldn’t be spring in Central Oregon if there weren’t some tempestuousness to the weather, so the availability of some of these activities could change by the week. And, on blustery days, the couch and a cup of tea may beckon more than a summit and swig of electrolytes. Mind the forecast and choose your own adventure(s) to appreciate and savor this season marked by growth and renewal.

1.) Appreciate new growth.

Sand lily, *Leucocrinum montanum. Photo: Ed Ogle*

Whether pushing new shoots up through the ground, letting young leaves unfurl, or coming into bloom, plants give keen observers much to inspect in spring.

On your neighborhood walks, you’ll see crocuses, daffodils, and snowdrops pushing up through lingering patches of snow and the months-old piles of leaves that people have left in place to provide great insect habitat.

On our public lands, be on the lookout for sand lilies, which are among the earliest wildflowers to bloom in Central Oregon. From the Flatiron Rock Trailhead, you can connect to the Sand Lily Trail in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness to admire these delicate beauties.

2.) Go on a cross-country ski trip, or enjoy an evening of downhill skiing.

If you’ve been out cross-country skiing bunches of times, make one more voyage out on your skinny skis this spring. Stop in at a new warming shelter or hook two usual paths together to make a new route. If you haven’t been out yet, set aside an hour or an afternoon to glide out into one of Central Oregon’s many groomed sno-parks. (Sno-park passes are required through April 1.) Meissner Nordic will generally groom the trails at Virginia Meissner Sno-Park seven days a week through the end of March, but they will continue grooming into early April if there's enough snow on the trails.

Hoodoo Ski Resort offers night skiing on Wednesday through Saturday evenings from 4 to 9 p.m, with $38 evening-only lift tickets. With the sunset clocking in around 7:30 pm in mid-March, you actually get a decent amount of daylight skiing in before the lights come on for the night.

3.) Pay attention to spring migrations and wildlife activity.

Mule deer in La Pine State Park. *Photo: Matt Oliphant*

In spring, many Central Oregon wildlife species are on the move. You can expect to see more mule deer in fields and at the edge of town as our local herds are moving between their winter and summer ranges. In the higher reaches of the Cascades and largely out of sight, black bears are becoming more active during daylight and crepuscular periods.

Thanks to our location on the Pacific Flyway, plenty of passerines and waterfowl wing through Central Oregon in spring as they migrate from their warmer winter homes to their cooler summer habitat. If you want to look for migrating birds, the Crooked River Wetlands Complex outside Prineville is solid bet. Open from dawn to dusk, the wetlands are ringed by 5.4 miles of walking, running and hiking trails, 3.25 miles of which are paved for use year-round. You can learn about the Crooked River Watershed via the colorful kiosks designed in part by local school teachers and students.

4.) Get planters or garden beds ready.

You can get your patio ready for spring enjoyment by cleaning out planters and refreshing their soil. Take advantage of the longer daylight hours to sweep the winter debris out of your outdoor space.

If you have a larger space for gardening, spring is the time to expend your energy on bed maintenance. Pick up a soil testing kit if you haven’t done that recently (or like the author, ever) and amend your soil as needed. When you are ready to purchase regionally appropriate native plants, you can find a wide selection at WinterCreek Nursery, open Monday through Friday in March, with Saturday hours starting in April.

If you’re looking to grow vegetables this summer, you can start making your game plan in spring, using the helpful Central Oregon vegetable garden calendar from OSU Extension as a guide.

5.) Read up on natural history.

Central Oregon is home to many fascinating plants and animals, and the more you learn about any of them, the more you realize there is to learn about all of them.

Any book in this small selection of natural history and conservation reads will deepen your knowledge of our region’s plants and animals, help you see our local environmental issues in a larger context, and whet your appetite to learn more.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Stronghold: One Man’s Quest to Save the World’s Wild Salmon by Tucker Malarkey
Rewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence by Marc Bekoff
Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy
Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide by Chandra LeGue and Oregon Wild
Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb
Wild Steelhead – The Lure and Lore of a Pacific Northwest Icon by Sean Gallagher

Check one out of these tomes from your local library or your local independent bookstore — Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe and Paulina Springs Books are Central Oregon LandWatch business supporters — and enjoy the plunge into natural history.

6.) Appreciate our cold, clean waterways.

Snowmelt is synonymous with spring. And what better way to enjoy the force of this seasonal phenomenon than with a pilgrimage to one of Central Oregon’s iconic waterfalls?

Tumalo Falls: Make your way along Tumalo Creek to Tumalo Falls to enjoy broad views of a beautiful glacier-carved valley. As you stop along the way to peer into the crystal clear water of Tumalo Creek, you can imagine the residents of Bend enjoying great drinking water and picture the native trout that will be hiding out in the creek’s deeper pools come summer. Depending on the current snow level, you may want to have snowshoes, cross-country skis, or hiking boots on your feet.

Steelhead Falls: This short, sweet hike moves through cliff bands that reveal eons of geologic history on its way down to the dramatic namesake waterfall. Wildflowers brighten the trailside slopes along the way in spring, with raptors often soaring overhead. The trail to the falls has one small, steep section, but is relatively easy overall. Once you reach the falls, enjoy a picnic, cast for fish, explore the rocky cliffs (carefully!), or simply sit and listen as the waterfall sound relaxes your mind. (Remember our tip about letting your mind wander from part one.)

Snowmelt keeps this stretch of the Deschutes River extremely cold most of the year. Cold temperatures and well-oxygenated water is essential for native fish to survive and thrive in the Deschutes Basin.

Upper Chush Falls: A good bet for late spring, the Whychus Creek Trail takes you into the Three Sisters Wilderness with views of South Sister. This area has been burned in recent wildfires, which will prompt you to think about forest health and wildfire resilience as you move through these burn scars. Three distinct falls are visible from the trail, culminating with Upper Chush Falls.

Do you have a particular sign that serves as your signal that spring has arrived in Central Oregon? Has a certain spring cleaning or spring enjoying activity become a ritual for you? I’d love to hear about it! Email me to share your observations and traditions.

6 Tips for Fully Immersing Yourself in the Central Oregon Springtime