Travel Spotlight

Steens Mountain in winter is an exhilarating outing in showshoes or backcountry skis.

Taking the High Road

Oregon’s Outback offers solitude and intrigue in winter or spring written by Joni Kabana People often say “just take the high road,” but did you know you can do this, literally, in Oregon? The highest road in our beautiful state is a stunning drive around the Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon near the quaint town of Frenchglen. The mountain, the largest fault-block type in the northern Great Basin, soars to almost 10,000 feet but it is the surrounding landscape that makes this mountain stand out from the rest. Surrounded by high desert sage, the Steens Mountain commands with dipping valleys and caverns and gorgeous sweeping vistas along every turn. The drivable internal loop is only open during weather permitting times of the year, usually mid-June through October, but visiting this location in off-season has its own very special rewards. With less cars and crowds in the area, standing before this…