Drive and hike near Zumwalt Prairie, June 17, 18 and 19, 2024
It’s a long drive from Portland to Zumwalt Prairie, so we took a route that made it even longer: through the Blue Mountains, passing Heppner and Ukiah, to Hilgard Junction, then to LaGrande and Hwy 82 to Enterprise. Along the way, once off the Interstate at the Ione/Heppner exit, the road is two lane and just gorgeous as you wind through the mountains and down into the valley. We (Christine and I) drove all the way to Wallowa Lake Lodge where we stayed in a cabin for two nights. We drove back roads while out there; Red Hill Lookout Road, Zumwalt Buckhorn Road, Forest Road 46. It was a long, slow loop starting three miles outside of Enterprise, with incredible countryside and views all around. We hiked the Canyon Vista Trailhead in the Zumwalt Prairie property of The Nature Conservancy, to the edge of the ridge overlooking the Imnaha River Canyon and Hell’s Canyon, over to the Seven Devils in Idaho. The last day of this quick trip we hiked a bit at Coalmine Hill, following the trail towards Gibson Cave. And then drove back home to Portland.
The incredible Kelly’s Prairie, between Heppner and Ukiah, is worth the drive. The blue are millions of Camas plants, with the white top of Sitka Valerian in the foreground.
Hotrocks penstemon was all along the sides of the Forest Road 53
Close up of a Sitka Valerian
Sticky Paintbrush found at Red Hill Lookout on FS46
Field peppergrass was also found in large groups at Red Hill Lookout
Dwarf yellow fleabane along the Canyon Vista Trail in Zumwalt Prairie
Narrow-leaf collomia also found along the Canyon Vista Trail
It’s raining over the valley, but at Red Hill Lookout we were dry
The view into the Imnaha River canyon and beyond at the top of Canyon Vista Trail
