A magical weekend in the desert with all your buds!
The Alvord is less a destination and more a feeling.
It’s 12 miles of open playa where the ground turns to pale earth and the horizon stretches so far it softens your thoughts. Steens Mountain rises abruptly from the flatness, sunsets spill for hours, and when the light finally leaves, the sky doesn’t just show stars — it floods with them.
The air is dry and clean.
The silence is refreshing.
The scale is humbling.
You can bike for miles in any direction.
It’s one of the few places left that still feels untouched — wide, raw, and honest.
And in September, it’s nearly perfect… for a party!
Thursday, September 3rd - Monday, September 7th
Please reach out to Ben & Emily if you'd like to invite folks!
While we dearly love our dogs, children & emotional support iguanas the Alvord Party Club is likely not the best environment for them. The desert can have changing conditions (heat, dust storms, limited services, loud music, fireworks) and we want everyone to be able to be present and have a good time. We've all witnessed dogs getting overwhelmed at big campouts and starting shit, and it's not fun! We strongly recommend leaving kids & dogs at home for this one.
While the playa is generally flat, the last bit of road onto the playa is a bit bumpy! It's only about 300ft of uneven terrain and most vehicles are fine, but if you're worried about your car getting down the path you can pay the hot springs to use their road onto the playa. The last 10 miles between the paved road and the path down to the playa itself is well graded gravel that is bumpy but most cars can handle it just fine as well.
We will compile a more detailed list for our desert newbies as we get closer to the event. But here are a few things to give you an idea of what to bring:
Self-sufficiency is key! The closest "town" to the playa is about 25 minutes away and it consistents of a gas station and tiny general store. You'll need to bring everything with you that you need for the weekend.
General packing list:
- Enough water for however many days you'll be there (~1 or 2 gallons per person per day)
- Food
- Bevs
- Tent/sleeping bag/sleeping pad/pillow
- Kitchen setup / cooler + ice
- Firewood to contribute (we recommend 2x bundles per person, it burns fast out there!)
- Warm layers for night time
- Swimsuit + towel for hot springs
- Party Costumes
- Stakes + hammer to secure your tent if you're bringing one (wind storms happen and everything needs to be secured well)
- Shade & pop up canopies or a place to retreat from the heat + good stakes to keep from blowing away
- Headlamps + lights
- Pack in and out your own trash
Forgot something? It’s fairly typical to remember that thing you forgot right as you cross the pass over Mt. Hood (shoes, headlamp, water bottle, etc.). Lucky for you, Bend, OR is a great spot on the way to grab last minute hard goods. The Trader Joe’s in Bend is a great spot to stop and get last minute items. There is also a Local Acres Market and Dick’s Sporting Goods right there too. There is also a Target and Sportsman’s Warehouse just a 1 minute drive up the road.
After that, the Safeway in Burns, OR is your last real stop before Crane Hotsprings and the Alvord. We recommend stopping here to fill up your coolers with ice, cars with fuel, and radio with tunes!
There are toilets at the entrance of the playa, likely 10-15 minute drive from where we set up camp. There are also toilets at Alvord Hot Springs which is a bit further down the road from the vault toilets. We will be providing *emergency* wag bags for *💩emergencies💩* but please either bring your own toilet system or plan to make a trip to the outhouse each day when you need to shit so we aren't managing 50 people's dumps. You can pee on the playa away from camp (ideally 100+ feet)!
Thanks for asking! We'll be asking everyone to chip in a little to cover shared production costs (wag bags, trash bags, generator rentals, etc.) aside from that, we encourage everyone to contribute in whatever way you shine best!
This is a group experience. So we'll also need help with transporting items to & from the desert, set up, take down, generator upkeep, keeping the bonfire running, trash runs, and more. We also welcome any fun art installations, yoga sessions, activities or DJ sets or anything else you'd like to add to the mix! Contact Emily or Ben with your ideas ✨ We'll have a sign up sheet for help with the boring stuff later.