Oregon Breweries Collaborate with Visit Bend to Create Bend Ale Trail

It’s great seeing cities teaming up with breweries to promote their city, their economy, and well, their beer. Bend, Oregon knows a great thing when they see it, and they’ve seen it with their local craft beer scene, leading to the creation of The Bend Ale Trail.

A collaboration between Visit Bend, the city’s tourism bureau, and eight of the regions top craft breweries, The Bend Ale Trail is an interactive, multi-faceted tour and celebration of the city’s craft breweries.

“The craft brewing and the tourism industries are both critical pillars of Bend’s economy.” — Gary Fish, president and proprietor of Deschutes Brewery, Bend’s first and largest brewery. “The Bend Ale Trail is the first cooperative destination marketing effort aimed specifically at growing these sectors of our economy.”

According to a 2009 Bend tourism research project, it was found that 28% of summer visitors to Bend visited a brewery during their stay, making brewery visits the fifth most enjoyed tourist activity behind hiking, dining, shopping, and biking. Some open-minded people put two and two together and instead of suppressing this awesome occurrence (I’m looking at you Georgia and your no alcohol sales on Sunday!), they’ve embraced it, creating a win-win situation for the entire city and raising awareness for wonderful craft beer in the process.

“Bend’s craft breweries now rank among the favorite attractions of visitors to Central Oregon.” — Doug La Placa, President and CEO of Visit Bend, the city’s tourism bureau. “Bend’s world-class beer culture is an excellent complement to the region’s renowned outdoor recreation and highlighting it is the logical next step in diversifying our tourism offerings.”

The Bend Ale Trail began June 1st and is worth checking out and will only get better with time. An iPhone and Android app are also in the works to help lead you on your beer adventure if you do so wish! For more information, check out the website and start an adventure of your own!

Participating breweries:

• 10 Barrel Brewing Co.
• Bend Brewing Company
• Cascade Lakes Brewing Co.
• Descutes Brewery
• McMenamins Old St. Francis School
• Silver Moon Brewing
• Three Creeks Brewing Co.
• Boneyard Brewing

For more information, follow Bend Ale Trail on Twitter: @BendAleTrail

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