A Closer Look at Steens Mountain

Seeing Steens Mountain from below is pretty great, but exploring the ridges and viewpoints and getting an up-close look at Steens Mountain from the summit is really the best way to experience this rugged eastern Oregon mountain. That’s right, fun fact: Steens Mountain (also known as “the Steens”) is not a mountain range, but is actually a single fault block mountain!

In this article, you can follow along on our trip through small eastern Oregon towns to the top of a vast mountain and back down to the desert with stunning scenery the entire way. Buckle up and enjoy the ride…

What is a Fault Block Anyway?

The Steens Mountain is a 30 mile fault block which is the largest fault-block mountain in the northern Great Basin. That’s great, but what does that really mean?

According to Wikipedia “Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometers, created by tectonic and localized stresses in the Earth’s crust.” In other words these mountains are formed during vertical movement in the plates.

Road Trip: From Frenchglen to Fields

Our Steens Mountain experience started at the Hines Millhouse Bed and Breakfast in Hines, Oregon. You can read about that experience here. After a delicious breakfast we departed on our journey through Burns and eventually onto the Frenchglen OR hwy 205-S until we reached the teeeeeeny tiny town of Frenchglen. I’m not even exaggerating. Their population is listed as 12! This leg of the trip took about an hour.

The historic Frenchglen Hotel was built in 1917 and is one of the few places to stay in this remote part of Oregon. You can make reservations from mid March through the end of October.

For those travelers who forgot to fill up on gas in Burns, you’re in luck! The Frenchglen Mercantile features the town’s only gas station. You can also get a cup of coffee or a cold drink on your way out of town.

A considerable portion of this next section will be on a gravel road. It is well maintained, but makes for a slightly bumpy ride. If your schedule allows, take this trip in the fall when the Aspen trees are at their peak. We left in early October, but I think the colors would have been even better at the end of September.

In just under an hour from Frenchglen, we made it to our next stop. On our way up Steens Mountain we got out at Kiger Gorge Overlook for a view of the yellow aspen below. One thing I noticed (and very much appreciate) about this part of Oregon is how the remoteness makes it an ideal place to go for some solitude. You will feel like you have the place to yourself most of the time. We did see several people, but nothing ever felt crowded or busy.

A Look Along the Edge of Steens Mountain with a View of the Alvord Desert Below

Did you know Oregon has a desert? You will find incredible views of the Alvord Desert from the the East Rim Overlook only 10 minutes away from Kiger Gorge.

This view point of Wildhorse Lake is only visible from the Steens Mountain Summit, a short, but steep .9 mile hike. If you have extra time, the Wildhorse Lake trail is a 2.5 mile trail that leads down to the lake.

In the Area

Fields Station is located in the remote town of Fields, Oregon at the southern base of the Steens and was one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting after learning about their famous milkshakes!! (Check out all the flavors they offer!) Unfortunately for us, they close down their milkshake machines well before their posted business hours. I think we arrived just before 4 pm and were told no more milkshakes. I might have cried a little.

From Fields Station, drive a half hour north on Fields-Denio Road. Continue to the Frog Springs Alvord Desert access entrance and drive onto the desert floor for an entirely different look at the Steens!! The 9,734-foot fault-block mountain acts as a rain shadow causing the dry cracked landscape of the Alvord Desert. This dry lake bed measures 5 miles wide and 10 miles long and features geothermal hot springs you can visit.

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There is so much texture on the desert floor. Get down on the ground and focus on an area in the foreground to really draw attention to this cool surface. Check out the photo directly above to see the result of the photo I was taking!

Don’t forget to capture some cool shadows while you’re here. If you’re visiting in the morning or towards the end of the day when the sun is lower you can capture some pretty long shadows.

Side Note: Look at how much sharper the right photo is taken with my Canon vs my cell phone on the left. This is why I bring the “real” camera everywhere I go. It really does make a big difference, at least to me!

A Desert Drive

Did you know you can drive on the Alvord Desert? Not only can you drive here, but on August 27, 2019, Jessi Combs set the Guinness World Land Speed Record of 522.783 mph here. Unfortunately, she died while attempting this record. In 2020, Guinness World Records recognized her runs as the official new “Women’s Land Speed” world record. We didn’t go quite that fast!

A Look Back in Time

Seeing the desert floor from the top of Steens Mountain and then driving back down to the Alvord Desert was a full circle moment for me. Nearly 30 years ago I viewed the snow-topped Steens Mountain landscape from the Alvord Desert on the back of a dirt bike.

This concludes our day in the Steens. I hope you enjoyed following along on our Oregon road trip adventure. I’d love to hear if you’ve ever explored any of these places. Feel free to leave me a message in the comments.

To follow along on our entire road trip, check out the Oregon Road Trip post here.

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