Transgender men are allowed to use the women's bathroom at the Larkspur Community Center in Bend, Oregon, as they can access facilities that align with their gender identity. This policy is part of broader efforts to ensure equal access for transgender individuals in public spaces. However, this is not in the membership contract, so I was not made aware until after the fact. If biological women are uncomfortable undressing in front of a male dressed as a woman in women's locker room, biological women are told they can dress in a private bathroom set aside. So biological women in essence get kicked out of the designated female bathroom to accommodate the female wannabe delusions. Frankly, I do not even want to take my grand daughter in the female bathroom, and expose them to a man's delusions of feeling like they are a woman. It should be that he is the one that should dress or use the private bathroom, if he is not comfortable in his true gender bathroom. Once again, biological women are discriminated against, and treated as 2nd class citizens. Fine, if that is the way management wants it, my family and I have canceled our membership. I am not using the female bathroom if I have to deal with a man wannabe women while I am bathing or dressing. By the way, again, there was nothing in the contract I signed for membership that made me aware of this. Management had better put this in the contract and make biological females aware that they will have to cope with men in the women's bathroom. I actually only found this out when I walked in to change, and there was a man dressed as a woman in the biological female bathroom. read more

Julie's drumming class is so fun. Her music is great, she is so pleasant and smiles through the entire class. Great work out.

I'm not an avid gym user and rarely/never use some features of a gym, such as the pool or group exercise rooms. I don't take fitness classes. I'm all about the machines because I don't have room or the budget to buy my own. That said, Larkspur is pretty nice. Good machines, well laid out fitness area, clean facilities, friendly folks. And the pool area looks to be top tier if that's you're thing. One negative is the app (actually, confusingly, two apps) they employ to set up personal exercise regimens and to communicate with the various fitness machines using a smartphone. When we inquired about it with the person at the desk, she offered that if we found the setup process inscrutable we wouldn't be the only ones. Sure enough, the app(s) are bad enough that I abandoned them. Not worth the hassle. Another potential negative is BPRD's decision to quit the Silver Sneakers program at the end of the year. Not sure what the new program will be or if they'll even have one. read more

Julie's cardio drumming class at Larkspur is the best!! Her smile is infectious, and her moves are so fun!! Music is fantastic. Thank you Julie read more

Super fun place to bring your kids! There outdoor play area is very large with at least three playgrounds. There could be more but three was all that I saw the day we took our 2 and 4 year old grandkids. The area has plenty of parking, it's very nice, clean and there are lots of kids to play with. Large slides, rock climbing walls, swings, zip line and much more! We could have stayed for hours if we had known that it was so awesome! The next time we go we will definitely plan on spending more time there! read more

I went in today with my best friend and her little brother. We are both adults and hes six. He was asked by not one not two but three different life guards his age after we told them his age and he was obviously acting very shy + uncomfortable. They continued to press him about it. While my friend and I were treated like we were stupid and five. We are adults and know how to take care of a child. Micromanaging your guests about how to put a life vest on a child and harassing a child about there age is absolutely insane and so disrespectful to not just us but him. read more

The men's locker room is awful. The smell is really bad. Apparently there is a sewage problem which needs to be fixed. The locker room just creeps me out. Don't want to take a shower there. They use too much chlorine in the hot tub. It makes me sick and itchy! People in general are not particularly friendly. The whole place is kinda strange.. In and out as quick as possible! read more

I can understand some peoples' complaints, as it can get quite crowded. We prefer the treadmills, and even though they might all be in use, it doesn't take long for someone to finish their treadmill time. Someone who has been a member at "many fitness centers" felt there was inadequate space and equipment for the number of members. News flash: the building is as big as it is going to get! Certain classes will continue to be in "prime time" and be crowded, DUH because it fits peoples' schedules...kind of a Catch 22. The pool and current pool DO have set times for lap swimming etc. We have been going to Larkspur since the rebuild finished, and we had to wear masks...try THAT on a treadmill for 45 minutes! Someone else complained that "it's just a senior center." Yeh, a lot of 50-80 year old folks who are doing their best to stay fit and healthy, including my spouse and me. The parking lot can be crowded too, but keep cruising and you'll find a spot. Hallelujah, our tax $$$ hard at work! read more

Recently joined and very disappointed. Obviously management is not up to the task. I have been a member at many fitness centers over the years and this place is a low outlier. 1) Inadequate space and equipment for the number of members 2) Frequent and prolonged equipment breakdowns with poor communication about repair schedules. Given the limited amount of equipment, this is a huge deal. When I inquired with the manager on duty one day about a piece of equipment that was out of order for several days, she was not only unaware of the repair timing but didn't even know the equipment was out of commission! 3) This one blows my mind. Given the issues above, they hold exercise classes during peak hours and dominate the few pieces of equipment that are available. (I work out MWF 4-5, it is very busy and this group interferes with everyone's workout on MW, not sure about Friday. 4) Card reader was broken today. But if you file a complaint with management, they look at when you were in the center. So for example, today, I wasn't technically there because the entry system was broken. 5) Broken, broken, broken. Broken equipment, broken processes, broken priorities. read more

Nice big facility, three locker rooms, two levels; went for the pool/spa area today, water is nice, less chlorine than normal which is great, jets, lockers without keys and big, clean rooms read more

Not a community center at all This was the worst experience of the sort, and my kids literally left there crying. In short: it's not a community but a senior center (exclusively), staff is unfriendly and unwelcoming and though it is clean and the facilities are nice, children can't use them. Did I mention very unfriendly staff? I did, good, it's important. The long story of our two hours in there: We were vacationing in Bend and the weather was abysmal. So, I thought it would be nice to take my kids (5&7) to the pool. The site said "all are welcome, but out of towners must pay 20% more since they don't file taxes here". Fair enough. We got there and were greeted rather reluctantly by the lady at the front desk who told me that there was a parent-toddler thing going on and my daughter was ok to go but not my son. However, since we were there, they'd allow him in if he behaved. Honestly, I thought there was a class going onThere wasn't, nor were there any parents or toddlers - probably because they know better. We tried to go in the lazy river and got whistled by the lifeguard who said that kids under 11 are not allowed there. That seemed an incredibly idiotic rule (and it's not their site so I think the short angry guy who held the whistle made it up) but we made our way to the kiddie pool - where, by the way, we were told we were welcome to go like we were being made a huge service. However, it was imperative we stayed there and didn't disturb the seniors who were walking in the lazy river or chilling in the hot tub. Obviously, staying in a few square feet of shallow water is boring, but we made it work. My son picked up two floating aids and began doing small laps. The highly unfriendly and communication-impaired (no, he did not have a disability) lifeguard got down from his chair and literally came and took those out of his hands saying that they are not toys. I pointed out that he was using them precisely for what they were designed but he just turned his back to us and walked away, probably feeling like a real man for taking them from a clearly upset child. Kudos, I'm sure the ladies in the water who saw his sheriff-like move were all swooning. Another lifeguard - a very nice lady - must have seen my disgruntlement because she came over and told me that the rules are not always like this and that there are times when kids can go in all the pools and the lazy river. She also said that they were trying to keep the kiddy pool open for parents and children every day. That makes me think that there are times when the younger population is not allowed in the water at all. I have never been more thankful for our local community and senior center. I get closing a small portion of the aquatics center for classes, it happens everywhere. But closing most of it and being that unfriendly is just wrong. We never went there again and obviously never will. I wrote this entire story so that if other parents get the idea to take their children there, reconsider. Also, if those parents are part of the community, maybe do something about it? I know for a fact that you can have seniors and children and young people in an aquatics center at the same time, but the Larkspur people obviously don't want that. read more