Upper Imnaha River Trail: Backpacking Eagle Cap Wilderness's Wildest Southern Corner
While most Wallowa Mountains backpackers crowd the Wallowa Lake trailhead, the upper Imnaha River offers a 3-day wilderness route through one of Eagle Cap's least-visited drainages — remote, stunning, and loaded with westslope cutthroat trout.
Zumwalt Prairie and Chesnimnus Creek: A 3-Day Grassland Loop in Oregon's Wallowa County
Zumwalt Prairie is one of the largest remaining bunchgrass prairies in the Pacific Northwest — and one of the least-visited backpacking destinations in Oregon. A 3-day loop through the preserve and into the Chesnimnus Creek drainage rewards patient hikers with unobstructed Wallowa Mountain views, massive elk herds, and silence you can almost feel.
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge: A 3-Day Backpacking Loop Through Southeast Oregon's High Desert
Hart Mountain is one of Oregon's most remote and rewarding backpacking destinations — a massive fault-block escarpment rising 3,600 feet above the Warner Valley floor, surrounded by sagebrush sea and wild pronghorn. Here's how to do it right.
Oregon Badlands Wilderness: A 2-Day Desert Backpacking Loop Through the High Lava Plains Near Bend
Twenty minutes east of Bend, the Oregon Badlands Wilderness offers some of the strangest and most rewarding desert backpacking in the state — ancient juniper forests, lava tubes, rimrock, and total solitude.
Tam McArthur Rim Trail: Oregon's Most Stunning Cascade Panorama Above the Town of Sisters
The Tam McArthur Rim offers one of the most dramatic views in the entire Oregon Cascades — a high volcanic ridge above Three Creek Lake with jaw-dropping sight lines to the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Mount Jefferson.
Mountain Lakes Wilderness: Backpacking Southern Oregon's Ancient Volcanic Caldera in the Winema National Forest
The Mountain Lakes Wilderness near Klamath Falls protects a seldom-visited volcanic caldera filled with alpine lakes and old-growth fir — one of Oregon's best kept backpacking secrets.
Cummins Creek Wilderness: Backpacking Oregon's Old-Growth Coast Range Above Cape Perpetua
The Cummins Creek Wilderness is 9,000 acres of old-growth Sitka spruce above Cape Perpetua — and almost nobody goes there. Here's how to do a 1-night backpacking trip into one of Oregon's most atmospheric and overlooked wilderness areas.
Lostine River Canyon: Backpacking Into the Eagle Cap Wilderness on the Wallowas' Best Kept Secret
The Lostine River drainage is the Wallowa Mountains' most underrated backpacking corridor — less crowded than the main Lakes Basin, just as dramatic, and home to some of the highest country in Oregon's Alps.
North Fork Malheur Wilderness: Backpacking Eastern Oregon's Remote River Canyon
Tucked into the Malheur National Forest in Grant and Harney counties, the North Fork Malheur Wilderness offers 65,000 acres of remote canyon country, a wild redband trout river, and some of the least-trafficked trails in the entire state.
Fremont-Winema National Forest: A 3-Day Backpacking Loop Through Southern Oregon’s Ponderosa Highlands
The Fremont-Winema National Forest covers nearly 2.3 million acres of southern Oregon ponderosa highland, yet most backpackers skip it entirely. This 3-day loop through the Fremont corridor rewards off-the-beaten-path adventurers with solitude, wildlife, and stunning volcanic views.
Twin Pillars Trail: Backpacking Oregon's Ochoco Highlands on a 2-Day Loop
The Twin Pillars Trail in the Ochoco National Forest delivers basalt columns, open ponderosa ridges, and real solitude just 35 miles from Prineville. Here's how to do it right.
Kiger Gorge Trail: Backpacking Oregon's Most Spectacular Glacial Canyon on Steens Mountain
Kiger Gorge is one of the most dramatic glacial canyons in North America, carved 3,000 feet deep into the side of Steens Mountain in Oregon's high desert. Here's a complete guide to backpacking this remote and unforgettable route.