13 replies to this topic

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

My in-laws live in Prineville OR and we make it up every summer for a bit. We’ve done some exploring in the past, mild such as Hat Pt, Steens Loop, etc. I’d like to explore the Owyhees area, in particular the Birch Creek Ranch area. I’m reading the road may be tough. I’d be driving my Chevy 2500HD XC LB with a shell, I’m not too worried about that. But my FIL drives a Ford F-350 CC LB with a wide and long Lance camper on the back. For those who have visited the area, what are the limitations and warnings you can offer? Thanks in advance.

Edit: Both trucks are 4WD.

Edited by Mighty Dodge Ram, 24 October 2022 - 07:30 PM.

[TGK]

I took our F250 SuperCab 8ft bed 4x4 with a FWC Grandby down there years back.  However it was mid summer, hot & dry as a bone.  I suspect if wet, could be ugly.  I can’t recall specifically how a large hardside on the truck would fare.  I recall there were some steep sections, dips, etc., but too long ago to remember about width issues.

[ski3pin]

Donald with softroadingthewest on YouTube posted a video of he and another YouTuber driving down about a year ago. I did a quick search and didn't find it. It was part of a series of 4 or 5 videos.

 

And then success.........

 

 

[TGK]

Video brought back some memories.  When we drove down to the ranch, we didn't go beyond the ranch, as the temps hit 100 degrees and we took shelter close to the river bank near one of the outbuildings and next to a line of large trees for the shade.  Got the dogs in the water to keep them cool and saw a beaver.  As noted above, it was quite a few years back and, at the time, their was a university archeology group set up at the ranch studying cultural resources along the river.  Also, the downside of the experience was because it was mid summer, they had irrigation pumps running most of the day to water the crop growing along the river.  Quite the racket.

 

The first time we floated the river was in 1984. At that time, the takeout for the lower Owyhee run required one to go all the way to the Owyhee reservoir and row or paddle 10 miles to the Leslie Gulch boat ramp.  Would not have been fun with rafts.  Before the trip, we arranged for a local guy with a power boat to meet us where the slack water started at the south end of the lake.  He roped up all 4 rafts and pulled us all the way to the takeout.  Was a very relaxing cruise at the end of the float trip.  That was a in 1984 in the middle of June and the river was running 5,000 cfs.  Two weeks earlier on Memorial Day weekend '84, it was at 10,000 cfs. Normally by mid June it would be too late to run in rafts due to low water.  However, 83 and '84 saw record snow packs in SE Oregon, which cause serious flooding in that part of the basin.  Malheur National Wildlife refuge and ranches to the west were inundated with vast lakes of water.  I recall reading that some ranchers were wondering if there was some way to breach the Malheur Gap that was caused by ancient laval flows 32,000 years ago blocking water from reaching the Snake River system.  Needless to say that was a bit of wishful thinking in response to the severe flooding being experienced by the local agricultural community.  From a precipitation standpoint, those were certainly some outlier years for that very arid region.

The next time we did it in canoes and took out at Birch Creek Ranch after the BLM acquired the property.  I had close friends who boated the Owyhee way more frequently than I did and I recall them having some rigs get stuck on the way out after some spells of rain.

Edited by TGK, 25 October 2022 - 12:34 AM.

[kmcintyre]

We were down there recently.  As others stated, if it's wet, it could be a challenge.  The road is quite "fun" and if you take it slow, it's fine.  We only had a few water crossings and a while back (don't remember when but probably 10 years ago) they did re-route the road on the steepest section.  Coming out, we were in 4wheel drive and basically took it nice and slow.  No issues.  NOW, if there was someone coming the other direction on a bit of the steepest section, it could be interesting but you can see most of the steep section from the top  & bottom so I suspect that the other vehicle would wait for you (assuming they know what they are doing and see you too).  Great hiking and camping down there and I even fly fished a bit (a few fish).  I posted a picture looking up the road and it gives you a general view of what you see at the bottom looking up (at least a section of it).  It's steeper than it looks and a few places where there are some nice size rocks.  One section that isn't shown is where there are some switch backs (that's right at the bottom section) that was part of the re-route.  Once at top, it's classic dirt/gravel road.

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Edited by kmcintyre, 25 October 2022 - 12:23 PM.

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

TGK, ski, & kmc…thanks all for your replies, which sound pretty consistent across the board. Considering the size of the Lance I may look at a day trip using just the truck(s). We took a loop trip up into Joseph/Lake Wallowa one year via Baker, LaGrande, Imnaha, Halfway…and then later down into the Steens and Frenchglen, Malhuer, etc. I consider Eastern OR and SW ID undiscovered country…at least for us. 🤫

[Wallowa]

Thanks for the discussion and videos...

 

Lots of "dirt tracks/roads" in that area down to the river....would be helpful to identify road #s, names or general locations...

 

Owyhee River and Canyon runs through Oregon, Idaho and Nevada....

 

I may have missed a reference to a well known hot springs in the Canyon near river....

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Wallowa: I’m on the hunt for guidebooks. I do have the Benchmark and Delorme atlases for the area which helps with place names.

[Wallowa]

Wallowa: I’m on the hunt for guidebooks. I do have the Benchmark and Delorme atlases for the area which helps with place names.

 

 

Roger that and thanks....I always carry a stack of Benchmark guides....not so much a GPS guy! 

[CraggyMan]

A fun road for sure. Beautiful canyon but as mentioned above be wary of being caught down there with some rain in the forecast. It's been a couple of years but there may be some height related issues for a hard-side once you get past the old ranch building as you head downstream to the launch/PU spot, but good campsites down there. I remember some rocky cliffs that seem to jut out close to a very narrow track.

 

 

Here's a pic looking into the canyon from above. - https://www.flickr.c...57713133789071/

Edited by CraggyMan, 26 October 2022 - 07:31 PM.