Wow, what an amazing place with minimal effort required to see amazing views. Steens Mountain (it's just one mountain, not a range!) was absolutely amazing. Highly recommend.
Frenchglen Hotel
We started our journey at at the Frenchglen Hotel State Heritage Site. While the hotel had a 2 night min in the rooms that allow dogs, we only had one night to spare, so we settled for lunch in the restaurant. Dogs are allowed on the porch, but someone else with a dog had already taken the seating, so I opted to eat inside while keeping an eye on Callie in the car. It was a great jumping off point for our afternoon, and the ranger was super helpful with info on the Steens Mountain.
Callie's State Park Tracker #148
Steens Mountain Cooperative Management & Protection Area
Fortunately the Steens loop road had just fully opened up. It's a 60 mile loop that's well worth every second of the hardpacked gravel drive. Fortunately for us, the washboarding was minimal, so the drive, other than being a bit dusty was very pleasant. The views from every stop are just epic, and while super windy, the longest we walked to see these amazing views was a 1/2 mile to the summit, and then the 1/2 mile back to the car. Many of my photos were right out of the car window.
We were there opening weekend of hunting season. We didn't hear any shots, but there were tons of people camped out and driving around, which made the long solo trip on a gravel road seem safer.
There are 3 BLM Campgrounds in the wilderness area. These were our backup plan if we weren't able to get to Burns for the night, and I'm glad we didn't have to camp there. While we were prepared for the freezing overnight temps, the wind was pretty intense and may have been too much for our little tent.
Pete French Round Barn State Heritage Site
This park has preserved a great historical location from a Western Pioneer who was known for his success in cattle ranching. The barn was designed to create a warm, dry place to train horses during the harsh winters.
We arrived very late in the day so the visitor's center wasn't open, but we had the barn to ourselves. It is fully fenced in, so Callie got to explore off-leash, but I wouldn't advise that with other guests around, or for small dogs, the gates have large escape options. Some critters definitely still use the barn for shelter, Callie was on a mission to find them the entire time we were visiting!
Callie's State Park Tracker #149
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