Where-To: Find Desert Wildflowers

Mid spring

A bit later in the season, find healthy sagebrush communities to the east and explore. During this time of year, you’ll find your options are as abundant as the wildflowers.

Northeast: A lovely hike close to Bend is the trail to Stein’s Pillar in the Ochocos, just east of Prineville. This very scenic trail takes you to the Pillar — an amazing geologic feature — and transits several distinct habitats with some unusual flower varieties. If you continue heading northeast toward Mitchell, another gorgeous area surrounds the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, where there are plenty of trails offering stellar diversity and abundance — not to mention excellent views.

Also in the same general area, in the hills just to the south, is the spectacular Spring Basin Wilderness Area. This diverse and highly scenic landscape has great hiking with fantastic flower displays. Some of the real standouts there are the glorious magenta-pink hedgehog cacti, huge swaths of balsam root, Lupine, Calochortus, paintbrush and many others.

The blooms in this northeast region typically begin in early April into May or June, but expect start dates up to a month later due to a very wet spring.

Southeast: East of Bend, along US Highway 20, wander around Glass Buttes for breathtaking views of flowers from above. Go farther east, just west of Burns, and walk the excellent short nature trail at the Sage Hen Rest Area. If planning a multi-day adventure, continue east to the Owyhee Canyonlands and explore the higher hills traversed by the road into Leslie Gulch. This remote area is filled with lupine, balsamroot, paintbrush, owl’s clover and much more.

This year in particular, the Owyhee’s uplands should be top-notch due to the extra winter moisture. The wildflower season in the southeast region typically starts in late April and extends into May, but will certainly still be abundant in June of this year.

Late Spring

Late spring into early summer, two Wilderness Study Areas near the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument are fascinating to explore: Pat’s Cabin and Sutton Mountain. Both offer superb exploratory hiking, few visitors and great flower species diversity. These locations offer a fairly long season for wildflowers due to elevation changes and varied soil types and moisture levels.

At this time of year, you may also want to continue to explore Glass Buttes and Sage Hen Rest Area— you’ll hit the jackpot pretty much anytime you drive out that way.

Summer

Summer means higher-elevation areas will be open, and there are lots of possibilities to try.

Northeast: East of Prineville, Lookout Mountain in the Ochocos has quite amazing and abundant flower displays. A bit farther east but still close to Bend, the upper basin meadows and wetlands on the North or South Forks of the Crooked River are wonderful areas to spot wildflowers, with terrific hiking, camping and exploring options throughout.

These areas are typically at their peak from May into July, but perhaps later this year due to snow levels.

Southeast: There are some real stand-out higher elevation destinations in southeastern Oregon that deserve to be explored when they’re painted in color. Hart Mountain and Steens Mountain are scenic jewels all season long, but they especially shine in high summer. Not only will you see many marvelous flowers, but with a keen eye you’ll spot lots of wildlife, too. Hike up DeGarmo Canyon at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge or down to Wildhorse Lake on Steens. Perhaps try an overnight backpack trip so you can take time to really explore and enjoy the flower abundance and diversity.

And if you really want to get out there, find your way out to Anderson Crossing on the West Little Owyhee River and explore the canyon and uplands. You won’t regret it.

Now go: grab a flower guide, map your routes, take plenty of photos and have fun exploring Oregon’s desert wildflowers!

About the Author: Scott R. Bowler is a retired science educator and a volunteer with Oregon Natural Desert Association, a nonprofit organization that protects and restores Oregon’s high desert public lands and waters. Read more of his work at onda.org/author/scott-bowler.