Spring Basin is named for a spring in the center of the area, which
produces water year-round, a much needed oasis in the dry uplands.

Spring Basin Geology

40 to 50 million years ago, a chain of volcanoes called the Clarno volcanoes stretched across northeastern Oregon.  Multiple eruptions deposited layers of ash, lava, and volcanic mudflows called lahars.  Many of the rock outcroppings in Spring Basin were formed by these lahars, which solidified as they cooled, trapping plants and animals and preserving them as fossils.  From looking at these fossilized remains, scientists know that at the time the Clarno volcanoes were erupting, Spring Basin’s landscape was covered by a subtropical forest of palms and magnolias, where tiny four-toed horses and huge rhino-like brontotheres roamed.

Spring Basin Plant communities

Spring Basin is dominated by big sagebrush, native bunchgrasses, and western juniper, providing important habitat and forage for native wildlife.  Several natural fires in recent decades have burned across areas in Spring Basin, part of a natural cycle that helps control the spread of native juniper and rejuvenate native plant growth.  Fire is an important physical process in a naturally dynamic system. Many non-native plants, including annual grasses such as medusahead rye and cheatgrass have spread into Spring Basin, particularly where there has been a lot of human disturbance.  However, native bunchgrasses still cover most of the landscape, providing important habitat and forage for native wildlife.

Spring Basin Wildlife

Spring Basin provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, including lizards, snakes, bobcats, coyotes, cougar, mule deer, and elk.  A large number of birds also frequent the area, including chukar, meadowlarks, bluebirds, and sharp-shinned hawks.  Golden eagles and red-tailed hawks nest in the vicinity.