Driving up Steens Mountain is like climbing a 20-mile ramp. A tilted mesa with an active fault on its steep, eastern side, this fault-block mountain has risen up in the past five to seven million years. During the Ice Age, seven large glaciers gouged 2000-foot-deep, U-shaped canyons into the western slope.

After driving 13.2 miles up from the gate, detour to the right into the Fish Lake Recreation Site. Mountain lakes are rare in southeast Oregon and this pool’s a beauty, with a campground and picnic area among silvery-leaved quaking aspen. Then continue up the main road another 5.7 miles, passing a snow gate that’s closed from about November 1 until July 1, depending on snow levels. At a pointer for the Kiger Gorge Viewpoint, detour 0.4 mile to the left and walk 100 yards to a cliff-edge panorama of Kiger Creek’s gorge. This colossal trough breaches the mountain’s crest, leaving a gap called Kiger Notch.

From the Kiger Gorge Viewpoint, return to the main gravel road and continue 2.7 miles to a 4-way junction. First turn left for a 0.3-mile side trip up to the East Rim Viewpoint and a dizzying look down to the Alvord Desert. Then return to the 4-way junction and follow a “Wildhorse Lake” pointer left on a rough dirt road for 2 miles to a parking lot at road’s end. The sparse blooms of white yarrow, pink desert buckwheat, and white phlox struggle here in a field of lava rocks encrusted with black, green, and orange lichens.

Two trails start from this parking lot. If you’re headed for Steens Mountain’s summit, simply hike up a barricaded, steep, rocky roadbed 0.4 mile to a crest. The actual summit is 100 feet to the left. To the right, you’ll find a different viewpoint just beyond five small radio buildings.

If you have a little more time and energy, however, try the other trail from the parking lot. This path heads downhill past a hiker registration box for 0.2 mile to a rimrock cliff overlooking Wildhorse Lake. Here the trail suddenly turns left, traversing down a precariously steep rocky slope. Soon the path begins following a brook through increasingly lush meadows, ablaze with pink monkeyflower, orange paintbrush, and yellow Oregon sunshine. At the 1.2-mile mark, the narrow sand beach of Wildhorse Lake makes a good turnaround point. If you’re backpacking, camp well away from the fragile shore and bring a cookstove, because fires are not allowed.

Other Options

Adventurers who don’t want to backtrack can return from Wildhorse Lake on a loop through trailless but open alpine country. When you first reach the lakeshore, having followed an inlet creek down from the rimrock, walk to the left around the beach 150 yards to a different 3-foot inlet creek, and follow this stream uphill. After climbing above the waterfalls at a meadowed middle basin, head straight for the radio towers on Steens Mountain’s summit. At the top, simply walk the wide, 0.4-mile trail down to your car.

If you have a passenger car, it’s safest to drive back to Frenchglen the way you came. If your vehicle has high clearance, however, drive back 2 miles to the 4-way junction and turn left on the continuation of the Steens Mountain Loop Road. This longer route to Frenchglen includes a rough, 6-mile stretch of steep, rocky road.

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon