Product Description
Borax Lake Preserve Canvas Prints
Borax Lake Preserve Canvas Prints
Steens Mountain is in the southeastern part of the Oregon, and is a large fault-block mountain. Located in Harney County, it stretches some 50 miles (80 km) north to south, and rises from alongside the Alvord Desert at elevation of about 4,200 feet (1,300 m) to a summit elevation of 9,733 feet (2,967 m). It is sometimes confused with a mountain range but is properly a single mountain. The Steens Mountain Wilderness encompasses 170,166 acres (68,864 ha) of Steens Mountain. 98,859 acres (40,007 ha) of the Wilderness are protected from grazing and free of cattle. The mountain was called the "Snowy Mountains" by John Work, one of the fur traders who were the first Europeans in the area. It was renamed in 1860 for United States Army Major Enoch Steen, who fought and drove members of the Paiute tribe off the mountain. The act was created by local landowners in cooperation with local and national government representatives in response to a proposed National Monument. This act created the Steens Mountain BLM Cooperative Management and Protection Area, a 425,000-acre (1,720 km2) area. This law protects 1,200,000 acres (4,860 km2) from mining, and 100,000 acres (405 km2) from cattle grazing. Steens Mountain is traversed by a 52-mile (84 km) loop road, most of which is suitable for passenger vehicles. This road is the highest road in Oregon state. It is possible to drive to the summit of the mountain and to other viewpoints such as the Kiger Gorge. Steens Mountain is also host to Steens Mountain Running Camp, a nationally known cross country training camp that has been held on the mountain since 1975.