At first glance, it hardly seems possible for a hiking route to be hiding on Steens Mountain’s east face, a mile-high cliff that juts from the Alvord Desert’s alkali flats to a sky full of snow-streaked crags. At Pike Creek, however, an ancient mining road gives hikers a secret entryway into a spectacular box canyon of colorful rock formations and wildflowers.

Drive here via . . .

If you have a passenger car . . .

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon