The Long Way
Lake County
A rocky bluff rises above a field of yellow wildflowers and sagebrush.
Plate I. Fort Rock along the Outback Scenic Byway. From traveloregon.com
A starry night sky with the Milky Way visible above a dark landscape.
Plate II. Starry night sky along Outback Scenic Byway. From traveloregon.com
A herd of pronghorn stands on a grassy ridge.
Plate III. Pronghorns along Outback Scenic Byway. From traveloregon.com
Table Rock along Outback Scenic Byway.
Plate IV. Table Rock along Outback Scenic Byway. Photograph, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Outback Scenic Byway

Lakeview, Lake County, Oregon. Scenic byway.

Details

Map. Lakeview, Lake County, Oregon. Larger map
Where
Lakeview, Lake County, OR. No street address stated. Directions
Season
Best Time to Visit: June-October; expect occasional snow in winter and temperatures in the 90s in summer.
Getting there
The byway begins near La Pine (30 miles/48.2 kilometers south of Bend), first on US-97, then southeast on OR-31.
Access
Distance 171 miles; driving time 4-6 hours; best time to drive spring and fall.
Website
traveloregon.com
Managed by
Travel Oregon.

The delicate beauty of the high desert sweeps from horizon to horizon on this 171-mile/275-kilometer drive across the Great Basin, a landscape as vast as an inland sea.

Notable Events

  1. 1843On December 16, 1843, Fremont and his party stood shivering and windblown atop the steep ridge just southwest of here. hmdb.org
  2. 1843The Second Fremont Exploring Expedition struggled from the snowy heights of Winter Ridge to the temperate shores of Summer Lake and bestowed those names. oregontic.com
  3. 1938In 1938, University of Oregon archaeologist Luther Cressman excavated at Fort Rock Cave, where he and his crew found dozens of sandals below a layer of volcanic ash, subsequently determined to have come from the 7,600-year-old eruption of Mount Mazama. oregonencyclopedia.org
  4. 1961Fort Rock Cave was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1961. oregonencyclopedia.org
  5. 1998The Outback Scenic Byway received National Scenic Byway designation. nsbfoundation.com
  6. 1998The cave and surrounding area were acquired by the Archaeological Conservancy in 1998 and transferred to the State of Oregon. oregonencyclopedia.org
  7. 2002Beginning in the summer of 2002, teams of archaeology students and researchers, under the supervision of Dennis L. Jenkins at the University of Oregon, resumed excavations of the Paisley Caves. oregonencyclopedia.org

People

  • Captain John C. Fremont, leader of a US Army Topographical Corps expedition who named Summer Lake and Winter Ridge (1843).
  • John C. Fremont, Captain, leader of a US Army Topographical Corps expedition (1843).
  • Luther Cressman, University of Oregon archaeologist (1938).
  • Dennis L. Jenkins, supervision of teams of archaeology students and researchers at the University of Oregon (2002).

Sources

  1. traveloregon.com/things-to-do/trip-ideas/scenic-drives/outback-scenic-byway-2
  2. tripcheck.com/Pages/Scenic-Byways-Outback
  3. oregon.gov/odot/Programs/Pages/Scenic-Byways.aspx
  4. hmdb.org/m.asp?m=113808
  5. oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/fort_rock_cave
  6. oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/paisley_caves
  7. fhwaapps.fhwa.dot.gov/bywaysp/byway/2142
  8. oregontic.com/oregon-historical-markers/fremont-memorial