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The
High Desert Museum
Connecting people and places by exploring a communal past, present
and future. The Museum is a self-guided tour; with volunteer
interpreters at various locations. Please allow approximately 3-4
hours for your visit.
The High Desert Museum offers a wide variety of educational programs
that bring to life the colorful history of the High Desert and
provide opportunities for visitors of all ages to learn about the
people, geology, plants, and wildlife that make this region unique. |
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See what the High Desert has to offer -- all in one
place! Exploring the High Desert region is easy when you
visit the Museum. Just bring along your curiosity and we’ll supply
live animals, stunning indoor and outdoor exhibits, special
presentations, and living history programs.
Outside the main building, a one-half mile nature trail
wanders through second-growth ponderosa pine forest, leading
visitors to the outdoor exhibits. Along the way, groups of benches
allow for a quiet shaded stop to enjoy the sights and sounds of the
natural world.
Among the most popular exhibits at The High Desert Museum are the
outdoor exhibits, featuring river otters, porcupines, and birds of
prey. Realistic habitats allow the visitor to experience and view
these High Desert animals in their own environments.
Want to learn more about birds of prey, snakes, otters, or the
Oregon Trail? Each day, Museum interpreters give talks on a wide
range of subjects relating to the history or the nature of the High
Desert.
Raptors of the Desert Sky is the newest permanent exhibit in
the Donald M. Kerr Birds of Prey Center, offers the rare opportunity
to get a close-up view of birds of prey in the High Desert. Housed
in a series of naturalistic habitats, you can see hawks, owls,
kestrals and eagles. Exhibits provide tips on identifying raptors
and the various ways humans have interacted with birds of prey.
On-going interpretive talks and demonstrations by trained museum
staff are an exciting additional dimension of the Birds of Prey
Center. |
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Despite harsh
conditions, the High Desert is thriving with life. Discover living
small and seldom-seen animals of the region such as pallid bats,
kangaroo rats, collared lizards, and Lahotan trout.
The Museum’s newest outdoor exhibit, Mustang Corral, opened
on June 14, 2003. Developed in partnership with the U.S Bureau of
Land Management, Mustang Corral will provide a home from May through
September each year for wild horses or burros gathered from
southeastern Oregon. These animals will be gentled and made
available for adoption each Fall through the BLM’s
Adopt-a-Wild-Horse-or-Burro program. Located near the Robbins Cabin
and garden, Mustang Corral includes a rustic two-stall barn and two
outdoor corrals built with rough-sawn pine lumber cut at the
Museum’s own Lazinka sawmill. |
Raptors of the Desert
Sky |
The exhibit also displays a larger homestead-era barn
that is under construction. When completed, this barn
will include horse stalls, hay and wagon storage, and an
operating blacksmith shop.
“Strong Medicine: A Century of High Desert
Remedies”
Open in the Brooks Gallery:
The fascination with the old West and frontier medicine
takes center stage beginning January 24 when The High
Desert Museum brings back “Strong Medicine: A Century of
High Desert Remedies” for a brief return engagement.
One of the most compelling and popular exhibits ever
shown at the Museum, visitors will have the opportunity
to view early medical instruments and remedies ranging
from the curious to the bizarre. Featuring Native
American, Western and Chinese traditions, just some of
the artifacts in the exhibit include skull-boring
instruments, a hand-cranked electro shock device, and
Lewis and Clark era apothecary chest.
"There is a romantic notion of life in the old West,"
says Kelly Cannon-Miller, the Museum's Director of
Programs. "The reality was that you could easily be
killed by minor injuries or illnesses that today are
common and easily cured.”
Not so long ago the lives of early High Desert
explorers, settlers, and indigenous people hung in a
delicate balance. Health hardships imposed by the
region's rugged conditions coupled with scarce water,
exposure, starvation, wars on the frontier, and
accidents or other injuries occurred far from any
assistance. The earliest newcomers to the region were
beyond any help other than the meager contents of
medicine chests containing remedies and implements of
that era.
A visit to “Strong Medicine” makes it clear that no
matter their occupation, culture, or ethnic heritage,
prior to 1900 all residents of the High Desert felt the
same helplessness in the face of diseases they did not
understand. They also knew how quickly death could come
via traumatic injuries while living a hazardous life
among animals, wagons, farm equipment, firearms and,
later, industrial machinery. "This exhibit has a
definite gross-out factor that will make some people
cringe,” says Lisa Olsiewski, the Museum’s Director of
Marketing. “But at the same time you can’t help but be
fascinated by how far medicine has evolved in a
relatively short amount of time."
Featured in the exhibit are one-of-a-kind artifacts,
early photographs, first-person accounts and historical
texts chronicling medical care in the High Desert from
the early 1800s to World War II. “Strong Medicine: A
Century of High Desert Remedies” opens January 24th and
will remain on exhibit in the Museum's Brooks Gallery
through September 2004.
Silver Sage Trading Gift and Bookstore
Find a unique selection of nature and history books,
educational toys, handmade jewelry and baskets, and
one-of-a-kind gifts in the Museum’s store.
Rimrock Cafe
Time for breakfast, lunch, or a tasty snack? Our café
offers a wide selection with indoor and outdoor seating.
Concessions
Vending Machines are available for snacks and beverages
during museum hours.
Picnic Tables
Picnic tables are available near the parking lot.
Free Parking
Parking is available for motor homes, automobiles, motor
coaches, and busses.
Special Accommodations
Wheelchairs are available for free. The Museum is fully
accessible to the disabled and parking for the disabled
is offered on site.
Benches and Viewing Areas
There are many benches and wildlife viewing areas
throughout the grounds, both indoors and out.
Evening Events
The Museum offers the rental of its facilities for
private receptions and meetings. You may reserve all or
part of the Museum for your private event.
Tour Groups
Group rates are available for commercial tour groups of
any size. In addition, group rates are offered to
private groups of 20 or largerpaying with one check.
School groups have separate rates. Advance reservations
are required. Contact the Museum at 541-382-4754.
Pets
Pets are not allowed on the Museum grounds, and the
Museum does not provide any facilities for pets. Service
animals are the only animals permitted on the grounds.
History
Donald M. Kerr, a native of Portland, Oregon, founded
The High Desert Museum out of a passion for natural
history that began when he raised a wolf cub for his
high school biology class. This experience inspired his
lifelong interest in environmental issues and the lives
of predatory animals. Out of the belief that we can make
well-informed decisions if we understand all sides of an
issue, he envisioned a new kind of museum that would
show the close connections between people and their
environment.
"I've raised a wolf and two great horned owls," Kerr
said. "I've been lucky to have these experiences that
aren't possible for most people. I wanted to bring
others closer to nature, to experience it, to learn to
maintain it."
Kerr's dream became a reality through the creation of
the Western Natural History Institute in 1974, and its
evolution into The Oregon High Desert Museum, which
opened in Bend in 1982. To give it a greater regional
role, the name became The High Desert Museum. Today, the
Museum remains true to his guiding principle that
education and experience are the basis for thoughtful
decisions.
Major funding for education and public programs
is provided by the following:
OFRI (Oregon Forest Resources Institute) - money for
running the sawmill, field trip sponsorship, and teacher
institute support
Jackson Foundation
Gilmore Fund
Bend Foundation
Bureau of Reclamation
Museum Hours
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, except for Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Admission Please contact the Museum at
541-382-4754.
Tour and/or School groups:
There are special rates for private groups of 20 or more
paying with one check as well as for school groups.
Advance reservations required. Please contact the Museum
at
541-382-4754.
Other key destinations are within short driving
distance from the museum, such as the
Sunriver Resort
Newberry Volcanic Monument
Mt Bachelor Ski and Summer resort
Smith Rock State Park and Climbing area
High lakes and Mountains
Deschutes River |
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Located 3.5 miles
south of Bend in Central Oregon on U.S. Highway 97. Call:
541-382-4754. |
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Nearby Lodging - Bend, Redmond, Sun River, La Pine Oregon
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Copyright
Oregon Reservations
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