The High Desert Museum

highdesert.org -

The High Desert Museum is located on Highway 97 just a few miles south of Bend, Oregon. They do charge an admission fee of $12 for adults, $11 for seniors, but we considered the price well worth it.

The museum is comprised of its large main building of exhibits as well as a system of paths leading to other exhibits and walks through the grounds. New this year is the raptor training program (see the photos below) where they are in the process of training a Barn owl, several hawks and a falcon to fly free and return to their handlers upon command. The owl, Sarah, was in the initial stage of becoming acclimated to a large crowd, so her handler simply walked her in front of us while Sarah sat on her arm. Another handler talked about the physical features of the Barn owl as the handler was walking around and she was very informative. They then brought out a Swainson's Hawk that was learning to fly from a perch back to the trainer's arm while tethered to a string to make sure he didn't fly off into the trees and then a red-tailed hawk that was in a further stage of training and a Harris hawk who was in the final stage of flying from the perch to the trainer without the string. We were also introduced to a hybrid falcon, part Peregrine/part Gyrfalcon that had been specially breed by a falconer. We all felt sorry for this little guy as he was absolutely frantic at being displayed and he struggled and tried so hard to fly away that he exhausted himself. It was a very interesting demonstration and they hope to have all the birds trained by next summer.

There were several outdoor displays including a re-created settler's village, an otter's exhibit, a corral for the wild mustangs they auction late in the year, the raptor house and various pieces of sculpture on display along the paths. They all led back to the main building which is divided into sections. The Desertarium is a room of displays of living creatures such as tarantulas, bats, burrowing owls, beetles, lizards, etc., the Hall of the Plateau Indians was an extensive display of Native American artifacts and the history of the Plateau Indians in Oregon and the Northwest. The Spirit of the West display dealt with the arrival of the settlers that including a recreation of a mine with lighting that mimicked the candlelight the actual miners would have used. I don't know how they could have done it without going crazy myself.

After coming back inside from wandering the grounds we noticed that large display tables had been set up along the main hallways, filled with animal pelts with casts of scat and footprints that went with each different animal and volunteers to talk with children and play interactive learning games with them. There were also several classrooms in the building with young volunteers who were working with children in a game-like setting but gently teaching them at the same time. This would be a wonderful place to bring your kids or your grandkids! This is a must-see attraction if you're in the area.