Abert Rim

  • Difficult
  • 3.6 miles round trip
  • 2010 feet elevation gain
  • Open: May through November
  • Use: hikers


At first glance, Abert Rim’s stark, 2000-foot cliff looks unclimbable, but a little known scramble route from Highway 395 takes hikers right to the top. The trip is both an athletic challenge and a panoramic tour through a high desert landscape, from the alkali shores of giant Lake Abert to the rimrock wildflowers of a 6340-foot promontory.

Start by driving …

… Sandpiper-like plovers run along the lake’s beach and giant white pelicans sail on white-capped waves. The birds throng here to feast on brine shrimp, which thrive in the alkali water. Because the shrimp are so hardy—capable of surviving freezes, drought, and even transport by desert wind to other lakes—they have also been successfully marketed as mail-order aquarium pets under the name “sea monkeys.”

For the hike up Abert Rim, …

This chapter taken from the book 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon.