Sunriver Resort is a

luxury resort Luxury may refer to: *Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge put ...

and residential community in

central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards ...

, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The resort is located at the edge of the high desert, just east of the Cascade Range, in Sunriver, south of Bend and south-southeast of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. The common areas throughout the Sunriver resort community are managed by the Sunriver Owner's Association. The elevation of the resort is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

History

Sunriver's land used to be a lake bed, which dried out and became a meadow. It was a meeting place for Native Americans living in the area and was later adopted by settlers, trappers, and explorers, including

Peter Skene Ogden Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein, or Skeen; baptised 12 February 1790 – 27 September 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and an early explorer of what is now British Columbia and the Western United States. During his many expedi ...

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

, and

John Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, who led expeditions along the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: * Deschutes River (Oregon) **Little Deschutes River (Oregon) The Little Deschutes River is a tributary of the Deschutes River (Oregon), Deschutes River in the central part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is about lon ...

in the early-to-mid-19th century. In 1943, the meadow was claimed as a training ground for combat construction battalions of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and was established as

Camp Abbot Camp Abbot was a military training center in the northwest United States, located in central Oregon south of Bend. Active for less than sixteen months, the U.S. Army camp was used to train combat engineers during World War II and was named for H ...

. Construction was started on the camp in November 1942 and it officially opened when Colonel Frank S. Benson assumed command on May 12, 1943. It closed soon after D-Day in July 1944 and most of the buildings were razed. The officer's club, constructed from native logs and stones, was left standing and is now the "Great Hall," used for meetings and weddings. Following the war, the land returned to use as a cattle ranch until the mid-1960s. In 1965, Donald V. McCallum (1918–1987), a Portland attorney, and John D. Gray (1919–2012), founder of Omark Industries, bought the land and planned to build a luxury resort on it. Their idea was to create a resort and residential community with a focus on maintaining the integrity of the environment, including creating a finite number of home sites. The first home site at Sunriver was sold on June 28, 1968, and ground was broken on the resort's lodge in mid-August, which opened in September 1969. The resort that McCallum and Gray established was bought in 1993 by Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership, who began an extensive capital improvement program.

The Resort

Sunriver Resort offers a variety of accommodations, including luxury guest rooms and suites, as well as 400

vacation rental A vacation rental is the renting out of a furnished apartment, house, or professionally managed resort-condominium complex on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. The term ''vacation rental'' is mainly used in the US. Othe ...

properties. It has five dining areas, three tennis facilities, family recreation, and is home to the Sage Springs Club and Spa. The resort has over of meeting and banquet space. The resort is home to three golf courses: Meadows, Woodlands, and Crosswater. Crosswater, named one of "America's 100 Greatest Courses" by

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's compet ...

, and was the home of the

JELD-WEN Tradition The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlike the U.S. Senior Op ...

, a major championship on the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

from 2007 to 2010. The Meadows golf course was designed by acclaimed architect

John Fought John Fought III (born January 28, 1954) is an American golf course architect and professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. Amateur career Fought (rhymes with "boat") was born in Portland, Oregon. Hi ...

and the Woodlands golf course was designed by the renowned architect

Robert Trent Jones Jr. Robert Trent "Bobby" Jones Jr. (born July 24, 1939) is an American golf course architect. He is the son of golf course designer Robert Trent Jones and the brother of golf course designer Rees Jones. Background Jones was born in Montclair, New J ...

The region's primary winter attraction,

Mount Bachelor ski area Mount Bachelor ski resort (stylized as Mt. Bachelor) is a ski resort located in Central Oregon, approximately west of Bend, along Century Drive Highway. The ski area is on the northern side of Mount Bachelor, a stratovolcano rising atop a volca ...

, is about 20 minutes away by vehicle.

References

External links

Sunriver ResortSunriver Area Chamber of Commerce''Environmentally Conscious Design: A Case Study of Sunriver, Oregon''
{{coord, 43.87, -121.45, source:googlemapssatellite_region:US-OR_type:landmark_dim:5000, display=title Buildings and structures in Deschutes County, Oregon Hotels in Oregon Resorts in Oregon Tourist attractions in Deschutes County, Oregon 1968 establishments in Oregon