The backcountry wilderness that surrounds Steens Mountain in Southeastern Oregon is one of the state’s finest scenic and geologic destinations. Steens Mountain is actually a small 30-mile mountain range rather than a single peak.

We recently spent a few days in the Steens area camping and driving the Steens Mountain Wilderness Loop. Visitors have their choice of four Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campgrounds, three on the North Loop road and South Steens Campground on the South Loop road, where we stayed with our truck and camper. The sites, surrounded by juniper and sage, are spacious and each is equipped with a picnic table and grill with central water available. An equestrian camp site, designed specifically for horse users, is directly adjacent to the family campground.

On a lovely sunny day we drove the 59-mile loop, a fairly well-maintained gravel road, which climbs to nearly 10,000 feet, the highest road in Oregon. This is open range country, so we did stop at times for cattle on the roadway. The views are spectacular with steep craggy hills and glacier-carved valleys rimmed with sagebrush and quaking aspen, sprinkled with a few small lakes. Kiger Gorge, a U-shaped glacial valley, is home to a herd of wild mustangs.

The next day we took an interesting side-trip near the South Steens campground to the Riddle Brothers Ranch, a historic piece of Oregon’s pioneer settlement. Bachelor brothers Walter, Frederick, and Benjamin Riddle obtained water rights, built homes and raised livestock on the ranch in the early 1900s. Some structures still stand with handcrafted furnishings, surrounded by equipment used in that time period. The property is now managed by the BLM for its historic values.

Visitors must be mindful of Steens Mountain’s high elevation and possible rapid temperature changes. The weather can be blustery with strong winds, blistery with 100-degree days, or with blinding snow that can fall year-round. For much of the year, snow prevents passage so planning a visit in the late summer and early fall are the most likely times for travel.

Steens Mountain is a worthwhile destination with a wide variety of scenes and activities. It was a highlight of our late-summer camping trip that we’d looked forward to for a long time.

To check weather and travel conditions before you travel to the Steens Mountain area, call the BLM office in Burns, Oregon: 541-573-4400.