Visionix

How an optometrist got tourists to notice this tiny Oregon city with a Prohibition theme hotel - OregonLive.com

I wonder if that is Pinot Noir?

1761585316350.png
 
This is a cool idea. The town - Burns, OR - is almost the textbook definition of "the middle of nowhere".

It is the stop-over point on the way to the Alvord Desert.

To get to the desert, you have to go from Burns, and pass through the Steens Mountain Wilderness. It is literally hundreds of miles of rugged terrain, desolate highway, and (in some parts) unpaved highway ! (ugggh)

The trip is one of the very few places in the US with no services whatsoever -- fuel, cell signal, etc. There isn't even any real bathroom along the way! (ask me how I found out about that... :( ) You break down on that road, you're properly screwed for many hours (or days) until someone shows up to help. Bring extra gas, food, and water.

The Alvord desert is awesome though. +1 can totally recommend if you have the gumption to do it -- you can drive on the playa!

Just make sure it is completely dry, or again... you are totally screwed. And in the middle of nowhere.

 
My son and I took a drive from coastal oregon to Idaho that took me through Silver Lake, Christmas Valley, Wagontire, Burns etc a few summers back.
Burns was a welcome sight and quite frankly a metropolis compared to some of those other "towns" in the oregon desert. We pulled over and stopped to eat lunch off the side of Christmas Valley Wagontire Rd near 395. Sat there for 30 minutes and not a vehicle in either direction passed us. You are absolutely in the middle of nowhere out there. Definitely want to bring food/water just in case and know how to change a tire. Now that phones are starting to have satellite capabilities I would feel a little safer sending my wife that route.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AdminWolf
Ronald Bodman said:
My son and I took a drive from coastal oregon to Idaho that took me through Silver Lake, Christmas Valley, Wagontire, Burns etc a few summers back.
Burns was a welcome sight and quite frankly a metropolis compared to some of those other "towns" in the oregon desert. We pulled over and stopped to eat lunch off the side of Christmas Valley Wagontire Rd near 395. Sat there for 30 minutes and not a vehicle in either direction passed us. You are absolutely in the middle of nowhere out there. Definitely want to bring food/water just in case and know how to change a tire. Now that phones are starting to have satellite capabilities I would feel a little safer sending my wife that route.
Click to expand...
It is an incredible part of the country, if anyone wants to try a sort of off-the-beaten-path road trip. It is probably the most isolated you can be in the lower 48.

Most people think of Oregon as green and rainy, but once you cross the mountains, it isn't the case at all.
 
AdminWolf said:
It is an incredible part of the country, if anyone wants to try a sort of off-the-beaten-path road trip. It is probably the most isolated you can be in the lower 48.

Most people think of Oregon as green and rainy, but once you cross the mountains, it isn't the case at all.
Click to expand...
Steens Mountain was one of my dad's favorite places in the world. As he got older, he would go on "walkabout" there for a week each July with my younger brother, driving through Burns. I got to go twice with him near the end of his life. So lucky.

One of the cool things about driving in such an isolated part of the state is that there are so few cars on the highway that when one encounters another vehicle, both parties lift a hand off the steering while to wave as they drive past one another.

I'm planning on "going on walkabout" to Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert with my 11 year-old and his uncle (my brother) next summer. -Charlie
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ronald Bodman
Charles A McBride said:
I'm planning on "going on walkabout" to Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert with my 11 year-old and his uncle (my brother) next summer. -Charlie
Click to expand...
Promise me when you're on the dry lakebed you let the kiddo try driving for the first time! (I won't tell ODOT :) )
No surprise the place has been used to try to set land speed records.

You are absolutely right about not seeing any other cars. And that was in the summer high season!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Charles A McBride
Love the dog cam!

And that guy is pretty good with his drone to capture footage.

Interesting that there was snow on the road when they left.
 
Gretchyn Bailey said:
Love the dog cam!

And that guy is pretty good with his drone to capture footage.

Interesting that there was snow on the road when they left.
Click to expand...
The playa itself sits at 4,000' [so-called 'high desert'.] It also gets cold at night, being a desert and all ...

By November, the typical tourist probably wouldn't want to go, unless sufficiently prepared for whatever nature can throw at them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Visionix
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Webinars
Menu