Hart Mountain Hot Springs

  • Moderate (to Barnhardi Cabin)
  • 5.3-mile loop
  • 750 feet elevation gain
  • Open late May to mid-November
  • Use: hikers, horses


  • Difficult (to DeGarmo Notch)
  • 7.4-mile loop
  • 1600 feet elevation gain
  • Open June to mid-November


  • Difficult (to Warner Peak)
  • 11.1 miles round trip
  • 2320 feet elevation gain

At this hot springs in the high desert country of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, you can soak in a free, natural 102 F rock pool, watching bubbles rise from the rocks below while songbirds zoom overhead. Plenty of free campsites are nearby, scattered along grassy streambanks amid groves of silver-leaved quaking aspen.

Most visitors here take a dip in the hot springs, camp, and then drive on. But to see the refuge’s wildlife and mountain scenery up close, use ...

From Lakeview, drive …

Wear long pants to protect your legs from the sagebrush. Expect to scramble a bit when you pass an aspen grove with trees felled by beaver. When you reach the broad meadow bowl of Barnhardi Basin, you’ll have to cross Barnhardi Road to reach the cabin, a dilapidated 10-by-16-foot plank shack in a grove of giant aspens (GPS location ...). If the cabin is your goal, you can return on a loop by following Barnhardi Road back to your car. If you’d like a longer hike, …

Other Options

Those who …

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