OWYHEE RIVER WILDERNESS, OWYHEE, ID :: After a weekend in Bend, I drove over to a place that sounds like Hawaii, but is spelled Owyhee. Millions of people have been to the former, but only a tiny fraction have been to or even heard of the latter. Owyhee is in Oregon’s southeastern high desert, and it happens to be the largest wilderness area in the West – even larger than Yellowstone! It’s a vast and remote desert landscape, featuring deep river canyons, towering basalt hoodoos, and sagebrush plains. I explored it via the Owyhee Discovery Trail, which is about 150 miles of off-road trails that usually takes about four to six days to do, but conditions were great so Mando and I blasted through it in eight hours! I started at Lake Owyhee Dam and ended at Leslie Gulch, exiting out of Jordan Valley. I loved the adventure, and I saw only five other vehicles the entire day! If I had more time, there were dozens of trails, vistas, gulches, old settlements, mines, campsites and fishing spots to enjoy.
This is so cool! I’ve always wondered what it is like in that area of the state. Looks incredible!
Ruben Alanis It’s a little bit of the wild west out there. Lot’s of open land, cattle ranges, and tiny towns – many without a single gas pump. I had extra fuel in the back, but was sweating it a bit when the tank got close to empty and Waze said the nearest station was 80 miles away! Fortunately, Waze was wrong, and I happened across a pump in Fields, OR. Population: 120.
John Brown that is an incredible adventure. Shout out to Fields, OR for keeping you going!
I grew up near there, on the Idaho side. So amazing.
I’ve only been to Idaho once (McCall), and I’ve kayaked, whitewater rafted, and backpacked the Snake River (Hell’s Canyon). Stunning areas along that border!
Pam Cope Oh, I forgot I went to school in Pullman and went to Moscow all the time! And I’ve been to Silverwood too… But that’s the panhandle, not the same.
Love it… looks fairly non-technical. Good for a stock 4Runner with no lockers?
Darren Bennett I think the route I did is fine for just about any vehicle. There were some small, sharp boulders here and there when I was thankful for clearance and extra ply on my tires. I’ve read the dirt can turn to wet cement in the rain, and the many dry creek crossings I did are usually running with at least a few inches of water. Here’s the info and trail map I followed: