Sept 28 – Oct 8, 2022

We took our Casita travel trailer on a 10-night loop that included the Alvord Desert, Steens Mountains, and John Day Fossil Beds.

First two nights were spent at La Pine State Park.

Next, on our way south, we checked out the petroglyphs at Picture Rock Pass.

We also stopped to check out what was left of salty Lake Albert.

We stayed one night at rustic Mud Creek Campground (near Lakeview).

More petroglyphs. Near Adel.

We stopped at Fields Station in the remote SE corner of Oregon for their famous milkshakes and expensive gas ($7.15 gal).

The Alvord Desert

We stayed two nights on the Alvord Desert with a fantastic view of the Steens Mountains.

Looking at the Steens Mountains from the Alord Desert

Two nights at Page Springs Campground

We picked a great time of year to drive the Steens Mountain Loop.

Stopped for gas at Frenchglen on our way north.

Two nights in Clyde Holladay State Park (near the town of John Day) with hookups. Luxury!

DAY TRIP TO JOHN DAY FOSSIL BEDS NATIONAL PARK

Sheep Unit – Thomas Condon Paleontology Center

Sheep Unit – Cant Ranch

Sheep Unit – Foree

Cathedral Rock

Painted Hills Unit – Painted Hills Overlook

Painted Hills Unit – Painted Cove Nature Trail

Painted Hills Unit – Red Scar Knoll Trail

The next day we made two stops on the way north to our final camping spot.

You can dig up your own leaf fossils at Wheeler High School fossil bed in Fossil, Oregon. “These thinly-bedded rocks behind Wheeler High School in Fossil, Oregon represent the bed of a shallow lake that existed here about 33 million years ago, during a time period known as the Oligocene. The climate 33 million years ago was temperate, but somewhat milder and wetter than today.”