Alvord Desert Road Trip

Over Thanksgiving weekend we went on a driving tour of Southeastern Oregon with our dogs Cami and Warren. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. We visited the Alvord Desert/Steens Mountain and the John Day Fossil Beds. As you will see from the pictures, this part of Oregon is a little different from what we are used to in Portland. Eastern Oregon is commonly referred to as "Oregon's Dry Side" due to the relative lack of rainfall, when compared to Oregon's western side. The area really reminded us of the deserts of the Southwest...just a little bit colder!!!

Just before our trip, the Pacific Northwest fell into a severe cold snap. It was 20 degrees F in Portland the morning we left, and as we drove towards the Alvord Desert, it only got colder. By the time we reached our destination of Fields, Oregon, the temperature was 10 degrees F.

Here is a roadside shot of the sunset about an hour north of Fields, Oregon.

Fields (population 12) sits at the southern end of the Alvord Desert and is a great base from which to explore the area. We stayed at the Fields Station, which is the only gas station, store, restaurant, motel in the area. If you need something, you get it here. This was a great place to stay and we really enjoyed the food and people we met in the restaurant.

The following morning (Thanksgiving Day), Scott got up at early to photograph the sunrise at Borax Hot Springs. Borax Hot Springs is one of the many hot springs in this area. The water here is ~180 degrees F and has 25x more arsenic than is found in normal water, so obviously you don't want to swim in this one! The air temperature that morning was extremely cold (~5 degrees F) and it was tough to stay warm. Here are a few photos.

Sunrise at Borax Hot Springs

Borax Hot Springs

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Alvord Desert. Our next destination was Mickey Hot Springs at the northern end of the Alvord Desert. The water in this one is ~220 degrees F...again no swimming here!

Steam rising off Mickey Hot Springs

Scott and Angie in the steam at Mickey Hot Springs

After visiting Mickey Hot Springs we drove out onto the alkali flats of the Alvord Desert. This place was amazing. The dogs went crazy here chasing their tennis balls. With the "Chuck It" we could throw the ball a mile. Here are some photos of us enjoying the Alvord Desert.

Scott and Cami

Angie, Warren and Cami

Scott and a couple of crazy beasts!

Cami

Warren and Cami

Angie, Warren, Cami

Steens Mountain/Alvord Desert

After our drive out onto the flats we stopped by Alvord Hot Springs. This is a unique hot spring which looks out over the Alvord Desert. Although Alvord Hot Springs is on private land, the owners allow visitors access to the area. If you visit here, please help to keep the place clean, so the owners continue to allow access. Unfortunately the people who visited the springs before us left the hot water pipe open, making the main pool way too hot. The temp in the main pool was ~112 F, which was a little too warm for us! We spent about 15 minutes in the secondary pool, but found the water a bit too cold in this one. Sounds a little like Goldilocks!

Angie at Alvord Hot Springs. Yes, that is snow on the ground!

Steam rising off Alvord Hot Springs. The air temp was ~25 degrees F.

Later that evening, Tom and Sandy (the owners of Fields Station) invited us to the community Thanksgiving Dinner at the restaurant. Hanging out with the locals was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. The food was amazing and Scott had a chance to play guitar with the local band.

The following morning Scott got up early again to photograph the sunrise at Borax Hot Springs again. It was slightly warmer that morning (~10 degrees F).

Sunrise at Borax Hot Springs

"Radiant Glow" Alpenglow on Steens Mountain from Borax Hot Springs.

Beautiful grasslands around Borax Lake

After eating a delicious breakfast at Fields Station (Angie had the biggest omelet we have ever seen) we began our drive north to the town of John Day. We couldn't resist driving out onto the Alvord Desert one last time. It was a perfect day out on the flats. We were amazed by how quiet it was out there that day. There was no wind and absolutely no ambient noise. One interesting thing was that we could hear random booming sounds out in the middle of the desert. According to the local lore, these booms are due to seismic activity beneath the floor of the Alvord Desert. Kind of creepy!

Angie and Warren

Scott, the dogs and the Steens

Warren

Scott's Honda Ridgeline in the Alvord Desert. This should give you a sense of scale for this area. Angie thinks the truck looks like a matchbox car!

Scott and Angie (as featured on our Holiday Card)

Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoyed the pictures. If you ever think about planning a trip to this area, pack up you things and just go. You won't regret it!