Thursday, September 26, 2013

Oregon: Off the Beaten Path

Part of my family recently spent a weekend in the Wallowa Mountains, in the northeastern corner of the state. Stuck in Boston, I can only contemplate how I have never been to the Wallowas. Indeed, a proud native Oregonian, I have never been to many parts of the great state. Behold the richness of the American West: more majesty than we can experience in a lifetime.

In 2009, when we still lived in D.C., I dragged Jeff on a big tour of Oregon: the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood, Bend, the Willamette Valley wineries, and my favorite stretch of the Oregon Coast around Newport. These are like the state's golden oldies. But things got most interesting when we traveled (way) off the beaten path, down to a part of Oregon as new to me as it was to Jeff: Steens Mountain.



Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert

"The Steens" sits in the southeastern corner of Oregon, a full day’s drive from anything resembling a town. There’s not much out there, once you pass Frenchglen (population: 12). The mountain is a long, jagged gash of rock in an otherwise flat landscape of sage brush and emptiness. To its east stretches the Alvord “Desert,” a bright white playa that is home to the mineral-rich Alvord Hot Springs. The hot springs are more surreal than substantive: a tiny tin shack in the middle of the flat playa, where campers come to bathe in the steaming water while watching the sun set over the Steens.




What does one do in "the Steens"? Hike (but beware the heat, and bring gallons of water). Contemplate existentialism. Camp on Bureau of Land Management territory (just about everything here is owned by the government). For those without camping equipment, the historic Frenchglen Hotel on the other side of the mountain provides quaint lodging and home-cooked meals. But you lose something of the extreme solitude and vastness of the landscape if you don't spend the night alone under the stars, surrounded by nothing in all directions.

Oregon is full of extreme and surreal beauty once you get away from the evergreens and rolling farmland. I can't vouch for all of these - like I said, there's still much of the state that I have never seen - but here's a partial list of Oregon's greatest natural treasures:


Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

At 50 miles of coastline, the dunes between Florence and Coos Bay are the largest expanse of oceanfront sand dunes in the U.S. (say that three times fast). We’re talking dunes 500 feet high, stretching three miles inland. (Reportedly, this is what inspired Dune.) If hiking or looking for wildlife, aim for the top half; noisier recreation (think dune buggies) are limited to the southern half.

Bend and Central Oregon

Cross Mt. Hood, and you enter Oregon’s high desert: dry heat during the day, cool temperatures in the evenings, stunning red canyons, endless sagebrush, and periodic rock formations with a flair for the dramatic. You can camp on public land out here, stay on the Warm Springs Reservation, or live the yuppie high-life in Bend. Sun River is a popular but low-key resort in these parts, and everyone’s favorite small town is Sisters, at the eastern foot of the Cascade Mountains.

Hells Canyon 

The deepest river gorge in North America (seriously!), Hells Canyon follows the Snake River along the most northern stretch of the Oregon-Idaho border. To do: hike, camp, jet boat down the rapids. Getting there involves traveling through the beautiful Wallowa Mountains (more hiking and camping opportunities) and cute western towns like Joseph and Baker City.

Owyhee River

South of Hells Canyon but still close to the Idaho border, the Owyhee River forms a series of dramatic canyons, some only accessible by multi-day rafting trips. One incredible landscape that is also accessible by car is Leslie Gulch, where hoodoos reach up like fingers in an otherwise barren gorge.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

One of the largest sources of pre-historic fossils in the world, the fossil beds are also home to beautiful geological formations – like the soft curves and bands of colors that make up the oft-photographed Painted Hills unit.

Crater Lake

Oregon’s only national park is a pristine blue lake that formed in the caldera of a volcano in the southern Cascades. Think Lake Tahoe, but utterly undeveloped. Hike the rim trail, or take a gentle boat tour. The southern (primary) entrance to Crater Lake is only an hour or so north from Ashland; during the summer, you can also use the northern entrance, which is an hour or two south of Bend. Note: Crater Lake is only snow-free in, say, July and August. But that's also when it's most crowded.

Volcanic fields

Oregon’s spine of volcanoes not only provides great skiing, but also dramatic lava flows. The road from Bend to Eugene over the McKenzie pass leads through the Belknap lava flow, where the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s built the Dee Wright observatory entirely out of lava rock. Just south of Bend is Newberry National Volcanic Monument: walk through a lava tube, climb a perfect lava cone, see an ancient forest cast into stone. Newberry Crater, the center of all this activity, is now topped with super-deep lakes.


Hot Springs

Oregon is oddly rich in hot springs. A great introductory guide from The Oregonian is available here. These are worthy of a trip in their own right:
  • Bagby: Located deep within a National Forest, Bagby is publicly owned and maintained yet consists of beautiful (rustic) wood bath houses with old-fashioned wooden soaking tubs. Getting there requires hiking 1.5 miles each way through old Northwest forests. This could be a day-trip from Portland.
  • Breitenbush: Run like a retreat center but moderately priced, Breitenbush provides peaceful stone soaking pools, vegetarian meals, and yoga opportunities. A popular overnight destination from Portland.
  • Terwilliger/Cougar: Deep in the old-growth forests of the Cascades between Eugene and Bend, hot mineral water spills over a cliff and fills a series of natural pools, each one slightly cooler than the last.
  • Umpqua: Closer to Crater Lake, hand-hewn stone pools filled with iron-rich mineral water perch on the edge of a bluff, overlooking the Umpqua river. This is really getting away from it all.

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