EXPLORE
PHOTO LEFT COURTESY DESCHUTES LAND TRUST/JOAN AMERO
Give the high desert a fair chance to work its magic, and it surely will. The desert is one of the last best Oregon surprises for many people. The wide-open skies, expansive vistas and clarifying austerity dig their way into your psyche. Just a couple of hours south of Bend, off of Highway 31, is Oregon’s Outback. South of LaPine, the road travels through miles of pine forest before emerging into the sagebrush covered high desert, punctuated with rimrock and the occasional ranch homestead. First you’ll encounter Hole in the Ground, which is exactly what it sounds like. Hike its rim and continue to Fort Rock, a massive, eroded, volcanic tuff ring unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Capture a selfie with the looming monolith, and zoom south through the small town of Silver Lake. Soon enough you’ll climb over Picture Rock Pass, so named for petroglyphs carved into the rocks at the flat top of the summit. Take a walk and keep your eyes peeled—you’ll find the figures of animals and humans clearly visible in the rock. From here the highway drops down into the Summer Lake basin, the alkaline remains of the former Lake Chewaucan, one of the largest water bodies in the region, had you been here 13,000 years ago. This basin is now a flat, bleached expanse, at the south end of which is Summer Lake Hot Springs, a gathering place for hundreds of years, with hot, healing waters as the draw. Today, Summer Lake Hot Springs is a developed place of respite and lodging that remains a destination for desert-lovers and hot springs aficionados from all over the West. Stop in for a soak and then continue to Paisley and dinner at the historic Pioneer Saloon.
PHOTOS TOP ROW: FELIX WITTERN, GEORGE OSTERTAG / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO, JAK WONDERLY, BOTTOM ROW: ALEX JORDAN
OREGON OUTBACK
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