Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge

Nice scenery from this 4x4 trail in the refuge. We saw only 2 other people over the two days we spent here, and they were employees counting mule deer. November seems to be a good time to go, as long as you don't mind camping in sub freezing temperatures.

The Warner Lakes are a unique system resulting from geology and weather patterns occurring over the millennia. The lakes are a closed system, periodically filling with water and gradually drying by evaporation. In high water years, hundreds of miles of channels link the lakes. The "lunate" or crescent-shaped dunes at the north end of each lake were created by the prevailing winds from the south dropping material on the leeward side of each water body. The lake levels fluctuate today on approximately a ten-year wet/dry cycle.

There are hot springs in the valley below. Years ago, an old rancher dynamited a hole in the granite and exposed a nice spot to dip in.

Little is known about the people who painted red spirals and animalistic figures on Oregon’s desert cliffs thousands of years ago. Because modern Oregon tribes have no similar painting traditions or legends, the petroglyphs may well be the work of a different people—a mysterious, earlier culture that hoped to communicate with the spirit world through symbolic messages at sacred sites. One of those sacred places must have been this small lake on the vast desert plateau atop Poker Jim Ridge. In what is now the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, nearly 100 drawings decorate the black basalt ledge ringing Petroglyph Lake’s western shore.

http://www.oregonhiking.com/oregon-adventures/100-hikes-in-eastern-oregon/high-desert-hikes/petroglyph-lake-hike

During the Pleistocene epoch which ended some 10,000 years ago, the Warner Valley was a lake 360 feet deep, covering 500 square miles. The last high elevation of the lake was approximately 17,000 years ago. Beach terraces from that lake are visible across the valley on Rabbit Hills and Coyote Hills. Here on Poker Jim Rim, the distinct line some 200 feet above the present valley floor is a clear indicator of the surface level of that lake. Such geologic evidence reminds us that the desert was once a very wet place, and in some distant future could be again.

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Activities

Populære steder at besøge

Crump Lake

Bliv ét med naturen, og udforsk de naturskønne omgivelser i Crump Lake på din rejse til Plush. Hvis du alligevel er i områdets, kan du besøge det, som stedet er populært for, nemlig sine parker.

Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area

Gå på opdagelse i Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area, som er et skønt, grønt område i Plush.

Bedste hoteltilbud i Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge

The Kjar House. A one bedroom family retreat in the Oregon outback.

Plush OR

Best Western Skyline Motor Lodge

414 N G Street Lakeview OR

Oregon Trail Inn and Suites

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Executive Inn & Suites

411 North F Street Lakeview OR

Lakeview Lodge Motel

301 N G St Lakeview OR

Interstate 8 Motel

354 North K Street Lakeview OR

Hunters Hot Springs Resort

18088 N. Rt. 395 Lakeview OR

2nd floor Apt centrally located. a block from court house, post office, library!

Lakeview OR

Single Story Home in a quiet neighborhood