Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway
— — a road that keeps finding water.
Not only on a wall.
“About 66 miles of two-lane road climbing out of Bend into the Deschutes National Forest, past Mount Bachelor and a string of glacier-fed lakes: Sparks, Devils, Elk, Lava, Cultus, Crane Prairie, Wickiup. Pavement runs above 6,000 feet for much of the route. The upper section closes under snow from late autumn through spring, and the day it reopens is something locals watch for. from the studio
Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, Oregon Route 46, runs roughly 66 miles from the western edge of Bend into the Deschutes National Forest and back out at the Highway 97 corridor near Sunriver. The route climbs past Mount Bachelor at 9,068 feet and threads a chain of lakes formed by Quaternary lava flows and glacial activity along the eastern slope of the Cascade Range: Sparks, Devils, Elk, Lava, Cultus, Crane Prairie Reservoir, and Wickiup Reservoir. The byway is designated a National Scenic Byway by the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration.
Each lake along the byway has its own character. Sparks Lake is shallow and reflective, set against the south face of South Sister and Broken Top. Devils Lake reads bright turquoise from suspended volcanic sediment. Elk Lake is the deepest of the upper chain at about 75 feet, with a small resort and the only marina on the road. Crane Prairie and Wickiup are reservoirs, drawn down through summer for irrigation in the Deschutes Basin. Almost every lake holds wild or stocked trout; Hosmer and Crane Prairie are especially known to fly anglers.
The upper section of the byway, roughly from Mount Bachelor west and south through Wickiup, closes to vehicles each winter once snow accumulates, typically late October or November. It usually reopens in late May or early June, depending on snowpack, with the exact date set by the Forest Service and ODOT each year. Through summer the road is open in full; by September, mornings at the upper lakes often start near freezing. The narrow shoulders, blind curves, and heavy bicycle traffic on summer weekends ask for slower driving than the speed limit allows.