The Untamed Corner of Oregon with Mars-Like Canyons, Wild Rivers, And More Bighorn Sheep Than People

Owyhee Canyonlands, Oregon

Hidden in Oregon’s southeast corner, the Owyhee Canyonlands are pure Wild West. Rivers cut through red rock canyons while bighorn sheep climb cliffs nobody’s named yet. Cowboys still work ranches out here, and you can go days without seeing another soul.

Here are some highlights of Oregon’s last true wilderness.

It’s Incredibly Isolated

At 2.5 million acres, this huge wilderness stays truly remote with only three paved roads cutting through it on Oregon’s eastern border.

It’s a 6-hour drive from Portland, shows little development, and is the farthest anyone can get from a McDonalds chain.

The River Carved Thousand-Foot Walls

The Owyhee River flows 280 miles north from northeastern Nevada through far-off canyons before joining the Snake River near Oregon.

The 11,049-square-mile basin carved thousand-foot cliffs, creating a maze of canyons and gullies along its path. You’ll even spot landmarks like Lamberts Dome.

Along the way, you’ll see the red and pink rocks of Iron Point Canyon, the white walls of Rome, Pruitt’s Castle, and Weeping Wall Springs.

Hunters Lived Here 13,000 Years Ago

The Owyhee Canyonlands were home to semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers from the Ice Age, who yielded weapons and stone tools.

A boulder along a remote part of the Owyhee has an etched petroglyph that resembles an elephant, possibly a woolly mammoth. 

Rock Collectors Find Rare Gemstones Here

The Owyhee region attracts rock collectors because of its wide range of minerals, jasper, agate, petrified wood, chalcedony, and sometimes common opal.

Haystack Butte, 24 miles southeast of Nyssa, offers colorful jasper-agate samples. The area also holds important fossil beds of volcanic ash and chalky soil.

Thousands Of Small Cavities Mark The Honeycombs

The Honeycombs region displays some of the most unusual erosion features, best seen by walking the Painted Canyon Loop trail.

The road to the Painted Canyon Trailhead needs four-wheel drive vehicles or “careful Subaru drivers with good clearance.”

Hikers on this route see colorful, tall canyon walls, rock towers and spires, and old sagebrush that together make this area unforgettable.

Rome’s Pillars Look Like Ancient Ruins

The Pillars of Rome rise like old guardians near the small town of Rome where the Owyhee River runs and these worn spires reach toward the sky.

You’ll find these eye-catching golden-yellow and brick-red cliffs near Highway 95, and they’re a popular marker for reaching the river basin.

Leslie Gulch Has Red Towers From Ancient Volcanoes

Leslie Gulch has tall red spires weathered from volcanic material left 16 million years ago by the same hotspot that now powers Yellowstone.

The 14-mile trip takes you between honeycomb-pattern cliffs, weird rock shapes, and giant stone pillars, and finally the river basin.

Many visitors hike the 3.3-mile Juniper Gulch trail, which leads to a natural open-air theater surrounded by honeycomb-patterned rock walls.

Three Fingers Has a Massive Rock Outcrop

Three Fingers Rock can be found along McIntyre Springs Road. It also helps travelers know where they are (great marker on your drive).

Getting to Three Fingers Gulch means following dirt tracks in different states of repair, so drivers must watch for several junctions and forks.

The quiet here beats even the more famous Leslie Gulch, with the Three Fingers camp giving a truly far-off wilderness stay in absolute solitude.

Coffee Pot Crater Created Jordan Craters Lava Flow

The 27-square-mile oval lava flow represents one of Oregon’s newest volcanic event starting from Coffee Pot Crater, a deep hole at the center.

Located 28 miles from Highway 95 when heading north from Jordan Valley, the site shows a striking example of plant and fossil embedded within volcanic rock.

Thundereggs Wait At Succor Creek State Park

The best place for rock collectors?

Succor Creek is where you can hunt thundereggs (Oregon’s state rock). It’s one of the 12 tent-only sites on the creek’s east side.

The area forms a green patch among tall, colorful cliffs of volcanic material, making a clear contrast to the wide desert around it.

Succor Creek also works great as a starting spot for trips to the Honeycombs area or walks on the Painted Canyon loop trail.

Over 200 Wildlife Species Thrive in Owyhee

The canyonlands house the biggest California bighorn sheep herd in the nation and key area for the Greater sage-grouse.

Golden eagles and red-tailed hawks fly overhead while 14 bat species come out at dusk. You’ll also witness elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and badgers.

Interested anglers can find native Redband trout in the Owyhee river basin. They’re protected under TU’s Owyhee Basin Redband Trout Restoration project.

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