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Below the
ridgeline, the occasional dry, open ridge or wet meadow is
surrounded by stands of lodgepole pine and subalpine fir,
framing distant views to the expanses of Bear Valley to the
south or the John Day Valley to the north. Snow fields cling
on through mid summer, their melt waters flowing down through
pristine drainages where waist high columbines and lush
thickets of red alder cast dappled shade on a creek more
easily heard than seen. All types of wildlife call the
Wilderness their home, offering good chances of seeing a red
tail hawk soar overhead, hearing the bugle of a bull elk echo
across the valley, or glimpsing brown trout jump in the cool
mountain air. While the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness has an
abundance of visual delights, many other special and beautiful
areas exist around each of the Ranger Districts of the Forest.
The Blue Mountain Ranger District has the Vinegar
Hill/Indian Rock Scenic Area, a place where natural features
and processes have combined to produce diverse landscape
patterns. Upland meadows are divided by clumps and ribbons of
fir, and populated with outcrops of basalt and granite. Large
expanses of burned forest stand with silver and black stems,
needles and limbs consumed in one of the many wildfires run
through this area. Below them, green shoots signify new life
and the cyclical process of life and death in the forest. Much
of the rain and snow in the Scenic Area drains to the Middle
Fork of the John River. Designated as a State Wild and Scenic
River, the Middle Fork flows through grassy meadows and stands
of pine, below rimrocks and the leap of returning steelhead.
In the heart of the District, Magone Lake Recreation Area
offers camping, fishing and boating enclosed by majestic
"pumpkin" pines, ponderosas with their deep orange bark and
characteristic black furrows.
Magone Lake, in the Malheur National Forest, about 26
miles north of John Day, is one of Grant County's most popular
lakes. Angling for 8-to 15-inch eastern brook and rainbow
trout is consistently good. The U.S. Forest Service rebuilt a
22-space campground, a boat ramp, and covered picnic area near
the lake a few years ago. This area offers swimming, hiking,
fishing, geology viewing, and wildflower viewing.
Magone Lake covers about 50 acres and features both deep holes
(up to 100 feet) and shoals on the north side. Some of the
best fishing is in the weed beds that cover portions of the
northside shoals. A hiking trail circles the lake so that
people can fish easily from the shore. A float tube or rubber
raft is handy, especially for fly fishing. Every year brook
and rainbow trout are planted and grow quickly. Three-pound
brookies are caught occasionally.
Magone Lake is open year-round, allowing for ice fishing for
those who ride snowmobiles into the lake. The ice usually
comes off by April. Access roads are usually snow-free by late
May or early June.
To get to Magone Lake from the west or northwest, drive south
on Highway 395 past Long Creek and turn left on Forest Road
36. The road leads east to the lake. The other road access,
(26 miles north of John Day) is from Hwy. 26 to County Road
18, then turn onto Forest Service Road 36, which leads to the
lake. A Malheur National Forest map would be helpful and can
be found at Forest Service offices in John Day and Prairie
City and at sporting goods stores.
For more information about road conditions, or to reserve the
group campground (it accommodates about 20 people and has room
for motor homes or fifth-wheels) or the picnic shelter, call
the Blue Mountain Ranger District at (541) 575-3000. There is
drinking water, and each space features a picnic table, fire
ring and cooking grate. There is no electricity or garbage
collection.
Monument Rock Wilderness
At the southernmost edge of the Blue Mountains, this area's
alpine, once-glaciated ridges offer views across much of
eastern Oregon. This Wilderness can be accessed from Prairie
City via County Road 20 and Forest Road No. 13 and 1670. The
lichen-covered 8-foot cylindrical stone monument atop Monument
Rock may have been erected by pioneer sheepherders. This is a
new Wilderness in the old landscape of the eastern Strawberry
Mountains. Established in 1984 by the Oregon Wilderness Act,
the 19,620-acre Wilderness spills from the Malheur National
Forest onto the adjacent Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The
northern end of the area lies across a watershed divide that
separates drainages of the South Fork Burnt River, as well as
two National Forests. The area ranges from about 5,200 feet in
the lower regions to the 7,815-foot top of Table Rock.
In the lower lands you will find ponderosa pine, depending on
where you go. You may also find lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir,
white fir, aspen, and juniper. If you look down, you will
probably see elk sedge, pinegrass, wheatgrass, huckleberry,
bluegrass, and many wildflowers. As you hike higher, you will
find subalpine fir, just below the treeless mountain crests.
The area's diverse wildlife habitat is used by bear, deer,
elk, badgers, and the rare wolverine. There are 70 species of
birds including the creek-loving water ouzel (American dipper)
and the pileated woodpecker.
The visiting season here generally runs between June and
November. The John Day Valley funnels winter storms and summer
thundershowers to the mountain ridges here. As a result the
area receives 40 inches of annual precipitation, twice as much
as the surrounding, arid lowlands. Summer brings hot days and
chilly nights. Hunting is the most popular activity, with
hiking and backpacking increasing in popularity. Table Rock
Lookout draws many visitors and is one of the entry points to
the Wilderness.
Table Mountain - The fire lookout tower on Table
Mountain is a good place to begin a visit to the Monument Rock
area. After taking in the view, backtrack a half mile down the
lookout road and take a level 2-mile stroll along an ancient
dirt road to Bullrun Rock's 150-foot cliffs. A fork of this
trail winds close to Monument Rock and continues 5 miles along
a scenic ridgecrest to Lone Rock. To reach the trailhead from
Prairie City, turn south from Highway 26 on Main Street,
follow a paved road southeast 9 miles, turn left onto Road 13
for 12 miles, then take Road 1370 to the left.
The Bullrun Creek Trail starts out with 2 easy miles of
hiking in a steep-sided canyon, but then climbs 2000 feet in
3.5 miles up a ridge to Bullrun Rock. Drive to the trailhead
from Highway 26 by heading west from downtown Unity on a paved
road for 1 mile, then turning left onto gravel road for 4
miles. Jog to the right on Road 1695, then follow Road 210 to
the trail.
Starvation Rock - One of the more accessible and
popular hikes climbs past Starvation Rock, a large basalt
monolith, to Road 548 on the narrow ridge between Sheep Rock
and Lookout Mountain. Backpackers and equestrians can use this
path as a connector between the Glacier-Monument and
Strawberry Mountain trail systems, which are less than 2 miles
apart here.
Aldrich Mountains - Snow capped in winter and catching
the suns early morning rays, the Aldrich Mountains loom over
the John Day Valley like a row of pyramids. This large
roadless area has expansive open ridgetops and dense timbered
drainages where large Douglas fir and ponderosa pine can be
found. To the south, Murderers Creek wanders through a flat
valley, past pine forest, scattered meadows and occasional
ranch buildings, then drops through the gorge around Shake
Table with its dramatic canyon walls and rimrocks. Similarly,
parts of Deer Creek and the South Fork of Murderers Creek
contribute to the scenic beauty of the District, winding
through narrow, constricted v-shaped valleys with lush
riparian shrubs and rocky outcrops, or through open grassy
meadows surrounded by large ponderosa pine where horses - wild
and domestic - graze lazily.
Prairie City Ranger District has areas with dramatic
scenery and sublime beauty. In the Monument Rock Wilderness
timbered slopes give way to open ridgetops where, at your
feet, hardy Indian paintbrush compete for your attention with
distant views of forested mountains and sagebrush flats. Logan
Valley, with the south face of the Strawberry Mountains as a
backdrop, has changing scenes through the year. Carpets of
spring wildflowers, swaying summer grasses, and autumnal
aspens with orange-yellow leaves atop white bark stems, have
made this a special place for hundreds of years. The North
Fork of the Malheur River, a Federal Wild and Scenic River,
certainly lives up to this description. Flowing through open
meadows on the floor of this steeply walled valley, some of
the Forests largest ponderosa pines reflect in the cool
running water. As the river flows southward, valley becomes
canyon, and outcrops of basalt and loose talus slopes
intersperse with dry open forest and sagebrush hills. The
distinct cry of an osprey may be heard over the riffles of the
water.
The Emigrant Creek Ranger District offers a contrasting
landscape, where the forest approaches the desert of South
Eastern Oregon. Prairies of bunchgrass, sagebrush and
scattered juniper offer expansive views to the south. Dry
sagebrush meadows nestle among rolling hills timbered with
open stands of ponderosa pine. Pronghorn antelope skirt the
edges of the meadows in search of forage, and bald eagles
roost in old growth trees, close to their hunting grounds in
the wetland areas of the Harney Basin.
Whatever kind of scenery appeals to you, the Malheur National
Forest has something that will enable you to leave here with a
great photograph, a fond memory and a desire to return. |
