Welcome to the Stand Up Paddle Bend blog. This is our place to communicate with fellow paddlers about the sport we love. Our goal is to provide you with everything you need to have as much fun as possible with SUP!
I paddle board all winter. My rule is to go winter paddling when its above freezing and no ice forms on the deck of my standup paddle board. I also have one rule - DON'T FALL IN. 
P board, shaped by Ron House, comes in two versions: The Soft top and the Glossy (free deck pad included). Both have the same stability. The Aquaglide Amundson, shaped by John Amundson, comes in a Soft top and is priced very comparably with the Laird Softtop. Both boards are an excellent choice so which one for you?
Stand up paddle boarding is much easier to do than it looks. You'll be surprised how easily you'll be able to balance on the paddle board your first time. Of course the type of stand up paddle board you try your first few times must be a stable board that is the proper size for your weight for you to have a successful paddleboarding experience.
Paddling Season: Spring, Summer, Late
Fall
About one and a half hours south of Bend about on Hwy. 58.
This lake has a ton of beach! The water is used for irrigation so late summer the water is down about 15'. Practically, that just means that there is more beach! You can get some distance stand-up paddling on this lake. It covers 4,008 acres and ranges from shallow to 258' deep. There is a lodge, camping and private homes on the lake. It's close to the tiny town of Crescent where you can stock up on picnic supplies.
In 1993 someone caught a 30 pound trout out of this lake. It's been awhile, so by now there must be a few more big trout. If you decide to try trolling off the back of your SUP, send us a photo.
Photos of Gunner Oliphant and Cole Ortega doubling up on the board.
Purchase your stand up paddleboard gear from us at www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com
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Paddling Season: Year Around. Can have ice floes in the winter.
Snaking through the west side of the heart of the town of Bend, Oregon, the Deschutes River is easily accessible from a variety of launch places -- Farewell Bend Park and Columbia street river access (Pole, Peddle, Paddle launch area).
This is a great stretch of river for a quick fitness paddle, or easy touring paddle. This is also a favorite section of the river to launch a floatie, so expect to see all kinds of craft. Overblown air mattresses, kayak classes, Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe practice teams and teenagers plopped in the middle of tire inner tubes share the water.
You''ll paddle past restaurant patios dotted with well dressed diners enjoying a meal near the shopping center and small islands of wetland filled with ducks and geese tending to their broods. If you're lucky you may even see a river otter.
Within a half mile paddle you'll pass under a few bridges -- high or low concrete and steel structures, and even an old wooden bridge built during Bend, Oregon's logging days. For most of the twentieth century timber mills dominated this stretch of river, stacks of fresh-cut logs floated in ponds carved from the rivers edge. Mill buildings now house trendy restaurants and shops, everything from chains like Gap and Victoria Secrets to more regional and local businesses like REI. West of the Healy Bridge (upriver) the river narrows and quickens. Fly fishers seek trout in view of runners and walkers enjoying the trail system looping between bridges.
Photos: Randall Barna, Group shot of L-R: Gerry Lopez, Isabella Barna, Mike McComb, Randall Barna, Dave Chun, Dennis Oliphant, Jeremy McKelry, Peter & Susie Miller.
Season: Year around. Can be iced over in the winter depending upon weather.
Weeping willows, Canada Geese and flocks of wild ducks looked on as Judy and Ed Shasek along with Al Paterson enjoyed their evening paddle in Mirror Pond in Bend, Oregon. Putting in at McKay Park they floated downstream and across Mirror Pond to the Newport Avenue Bridge.
Mostly shallow and slow-moving water on this stretch of the Deschutes River is damned at Newport Avenue by a very old and small hydro-electric dam. Drake Park on the East side and Harmon Park on the West side edge the pond along with some lovely vintage Bend, Oregon homes. The Galveston Avenue bridge (on the up-stream side of Mirror Pond) requires a crouch.
This is a lovely short paddle in the middle of the town of Bend, Oregon. During the summer Munch 'n Music concerts on Thursday evenings (July 10th thru Aug 14th, 5-8 p.m) you can listen to musicians and people watch at a safe distance from the crowds of thousands.
Paddling Season: Late Spring, Summer, Early Fall
Forty eight miles from Bend, Cultus is a good size lake (792 surface acres) with a mix of watercraft. Eighty to over 200' in depth, the water is cool and clear. In the morning it is often mirror smooth. There is not a lot of beach, so you may have to crowd in, especially at the beginning of the summer when the water level is high due to snow melt.
Fishers in powerboats and wake boarders stay to the middle of the lake and paddlers hug the shoreline. Most afternoons the winds pickup and windsurfers rig up. There is a little lodge with a restaurant and cabins and lots of camping. This is a favorite lake to stand up paddle surf behind a boat.
Photos: Gerry Lopez and Dennis Oliphant catching the endless inland wave from Dennis' boat.
