Central Oregon High Desert
Wandering through Blue Basin (Hike 102) on a rainy day.
The Central Oregon High Desert is the largest section in this book geographically. There are many definitions of what constitutes Central Oregon, but for the purposes of this book, this section covers the middle third of the state - that is, everything from the Deschutes River east to the Blue Mountains, and everything west of John Day and Lakeview further south. This vast area is larger than many US states, and multiple hiking guidebooks could be written about the area. I visit Central Oregon frequently in winter and spring, when the constant rain at home in Portland prompts me to head east in search of sunshine and adventure. Many of these hikes are old favorites of mine, and I am very happy to share them with you here.
For Central Oregon residents, these places are home. This is where you go hiking in the winter and spring when you don’t feel like dealing with the snow and the crowds in the mountains. For the rest of us, the best time to visit the Central Oregon high desert is from October to May. Fall and winter bring cold weather but frequent sunshine, and spring brings a parade of wildflowers to what is typically an arid region. Most of these hikes are uncomfortably hot in the summer, and rattlesnakes are frequently seen in the Deschutes and Crooked River canyons in the summer. The exceptions to this rule are Newberry Crater, a huge collapsed volcano southeast of Bend, and Hager Mountain, another volcano in the so-called Oregon Outback. Both of these peaks top 7,000 feet and feature weather more typical of the Cascades than the rest of the High Desert. Wherever you go here, it is certain to be an adventure!
88. Macks Canyon
89. Cottonwood Canyon
90. White River Falls
91. Criterion Ranch
92. Otter Bench
94. Smith Rock
95. Newberry Crater
96. Fort Rock and Crack in the Ground
97. Hager Mountain
98. Chimney Rock
99. Steins Pillar
100. Sutton Mountain
101. Painted Hills
102. Blue Basin