Dee Wright Observatory is located at the top of Mckenzie Pass near Bend Oregon. It is about an hour East of Bend and the Mckenzie Pass road is only open during the summer when the snow is cleared. The Dee Wright Observatory is built with lava stones and has a panorama view over the entire Sisters Wilderness. It is also a perfect location for star gazing activities.
We got to Dee Wright Observatory around 9PM when the sun was just about to go below the horizon. The day was still bright and we could see Mount Washington on the North side and Sisters Mountains on the South side. The Dee Wright Observatory was very well built with lava stones. We walked up the stone stairs and there was a small chamber with windows as lookout. This small chamber reminded us those Medieval time stone castles.
At the top of Dee Wright Observatory, there was a compass showing the directions. We could see very far from here. It was also not windy and thus not cold. We went back down to the car and waited till 10:30PM until it was completely dark and the moon went below the horizon.
As we stepped out of the car, we were fascinated by the amount of stars that we could see above us in the sky. We could identify the Big Dipper easily and found Polaris. We turned on the flashlight and went to the top of Dee Wright Observatory. On the South side where Sisters Mountains were, we could see the milky way right above the mountain. It was amazing.
There were 2 other cars there with us and they were having fun doing star gazing as well. We really loved this place.
On the way back, we had to drive very carefully since the road was winding and narrow at certain places. We would definitely come back here again and enjoy star gazing.
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