Wildhorse Lake Trail • Hike • Oregon • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

login for filter options

Sep 24 2025

Oregon_Hiker

Guides 9
Routes 477
Photos 8,484
Triplogs 630

male

Joined Dec 07 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Hiking		Sep 24 2025
		Oregon_Hiker • Triplogs 630

Hiking	3.84 Miles	1,226 AEG

Hiking	3.84 Miles	5 Hrs 30 Mns	0.70 mph
	1,226 ft AEG

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

I was on my annual Fall drive from Phoenix up to Big Lake in the Oregon Cascades and decided to stop off in the Steens Mountains of Eastern Oregon for 2 nights to explore the western slopes. After doing a quick drive of some of the major sights on arrival day, I decided to do a day hike to Wildhorse Lake the following day. The trailhead is well marked with a new sign. The trail is easy to follow but the loose gravel and jumble of small boulders on the corners of the switchbacks can trip you up. The lake is in a peaceful setting with trout visible cruising the shallows near shore. On this day, I only encountered 4 people. I circled around the lake to the East shore and then went off-trail to take a close look at the small lake (pond) beyond the lake. That required some route finding to get through a large boulder field. After a long lunch and rest at the pond I started the climb back up the trail.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Big Indian Creek Steens Mountain Wildhorse Creek Wildhorse Lake

_____________________

Sep 23 2025

Oregon_Hiker

Guides 9
Routes 477
Photos 8,484
Triplogs 630

male

Joined Dec 07 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Drive to Wildhorse Lk Trailhead, OR

Car Camping		Sep 23 2025
		Oregon_Hiker • Triplogs 630

Car Camping	20.50 Miles

Car Camping	20.50 Miles

Linked

linked

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Kiger Gorge Overlook

Partners

none

no partners

I stopped by the West side of the Steens Mountains to camp for a couple of nights on a drive from Phoenix to Big Lake in the Oregon Cascades. There are several campgrounds on the West side of the Steens. I selected the small Jackman Park CG since it was well positioned for the sightseeing I had planned. The photos in this triplog show some of the views along the drive to the campground from French Glen on Hwy 205 and from there up to the Wildhorse Lake Trailhead. The GPS route shows the driving route from the campground to that trailhead with stops at a couple of scenic overlooks. It was on this drive that I decided to return the trailhead the next day and hike to Wildhorse Lake.

The view of Mann Lake from the mountain rim reminded me of a good time I had fishing there back in 1999. This is an excerpt from my notes on that trip. "I was fly fishing on Mann Lake in my float tube in the afternoon. Fishing was good and I caught and released several nice sized Lahontan Cutthroat trout. But towards the end of the afternoon the breeze started shifting directions every few minutes. At Mann Lake, this is a sign that it is getting ready for a big blow. I was intent on tying on a new fly when I heard a loud bang, bang, flap, flap crash from shore. I looked up and there was a whirl wind running down a row of three motor homes. The awnings were jerked off and flung a 100 yards out into the desert. A rubber raft parked on shore went bouncing end over end. When the fishermen relaxing under the awnings jumped up to run from the whirl wind, it took their lawn chairs and flung them after the awnings. All this happened in a few seconds, then all was quiet. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and I was able to enjoy a ring side view from the safety of the lake. Everyone knows that all natural disaster phenomena preferentially seek out mobile home parks, or the next best thing, motor homes, so I was safe. I continued fishing and caught a few more before the wind decided which direction it was going to blow. I headed for shore to cook dinner. To my surprise, the fishermen who had taken the afternoon break under their now non-existing awnings were headed back out to fish with the wind starting to pick up. Where did these fools come from? Within a half hour it was blowing at gale force stirring up clouds of dust. The fishermen quickly retreated to the comforts of their motor homes while I was left cooking dinner on the tailgate of my 4-Runner in the wind and dust. (Okay – so you’re thinking who’s the bigger fool in this picture?)"

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Food Water Well

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Jackman Park Mann Lake Steens Mountain Wilderness

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
Aspen groves were about 50% to 100% in their Fall splendor.

_____________________

Jul 29 2023

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,516
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,406

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Steens Mountain - Harney County HP, OR

Scenic Drive		Jul 29 2023
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,406

Scenic Drive	1.33 Miles	250 AEG

Scenic Drive	1.33 Miles	41 Mns	2.05 mph
	250 ft AEG

no photosets

Linked

linked

Steens Mountain Trails

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Steens Mountain Summit

Partners

none

no partners

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

This was a near drive-up to Steens Mountain (elevation of 9,733 feet and prominence of 4,373 feet), the highpoint of Harney County in southeastern Oregon. In terms of area, Harney County is the largest county in Oregon and the 10th largest in the continental U.S. Harney County seems very remote and isolated, and as best I can tell there are more hay bales than people.

The drive up to Steens Mountain is about 25 miles on one of the best graded gravel roads that I have ever been on. I left pavement at the town of Frenchglen, the home of $6.60 per gallon gas. The drive was very scenic -- there were lots of wildflowers blooming and there were great views of the surrounding mountains with many pockets of snow still on them.

Once I got near the top I stopped by a viewpoint that had a spot elevation of 9,730 feet, only 3 feet lower than the highpoint. There were great views at this viewpoint, so I was glad that I stopped.

Then I drove a couple of miles further and parked at a closed gate not far below the highpoint, which had some radio towers on it. I walked up the road to the towers, and tagged the highpoint. On the way back I stopped by a rock outcropping that had the benchmark on it, and I also located both reference marks.

When I got back to the parking lot I walked a very short distance on the Wildhorse Lake Trail, which drops a few hundred feet down to Wildhorse Lake, which was visible from the summit. If I had more time I would have hiked down to the lake and back.

Synopsis
This was an enjoyable and very scenic drive, and is worth doing in you happen to be in the area.

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

2 archives

Jul 27 2018

Steph_and_Blake

Guides 100
Routes 63
Photos 2,548
Triplogs 184

76 male

Joined Nov 21 2015
Grand Junction,

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Hiking		Jul 27 2018
		Steph_and_Blake • Triplogs 184

Hiking	2.50 Miles	1,011 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles	1 Hour 45 Mns	1.43 mph
	1,011 ft AEG

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

See Description.

Wildflowers Observation Substantial

_____________________

Stephanie and Blake Barnard

Jun 30 2017

arizona_water

Guides 9
Routes 118
Photos 1,079
Triplogs 118

35 male

Joined Mar 06 2016
Salt River Valle

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Hiking		Jun 30 2017
		arizona_water • Triplogs 118

Hiking	3.02 Miles	1,135 AEG

Hiking	3.02 Miles
	1,135 ft AEG

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

Nostalgia.

I met my friend, Jared, at his sister's house in Sisters, Oregon. (That's always a fun one to explain!)
We left early the next morning for Steens Mountain Wilderness. This is a special place in southeastern Oregon, on the NV border, that we had both been to before. In high school, our cross country team came out to Steens Mountain for a week long training camp. For Oregon, it's "high elevation" with a summit elevation of 9,738ft. At the time, running 20-30 miles/day off trail at elevation was challenging and fun. Jared and I wanted to go back to the Steens area and explore some of our favorite places.

We setup camp in the afternoon and then made our way to the Wildhorse Lake Trail, which starts at the true summit of the mountain. We enjoyed the amazing weather and cool glacier views on the descent down to Wildhorse Basin. As the shadows lengthened, the lighting over the lake grew worse, preventing me from capturing the lake the way I had remembered it nine years prior.

The trail down to the lake is steep up top. This year's high snow volume had left much of the upper trail covered in ice, or just slippery from runoff. Eventually, the trail leveled out a bit, and we crossed one more snow field.
There are some amazing views of the Alvord Desert on the descent to the lake.

This are was settled by Basque immigrants. They said it reminded them of the Pyrenees Mountains. I can see the resemblance.

	Wildhorse Lake	76-100% full	76-100% full
	the outflow creek was raging

_____________________

- there's nothing like finding Water in the Desert -

2 archives

Aug 25 2011

Supden

Guides 1
Routes 1
Photos 14
Triplogs 1

38 male

Joined Jun 08 2011
Burns, OR

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Southeast, OR

Hiking		Aug 25 2011
		Supden • Triplogs 1

Hiking	2.60 Miles	1,100 AEG

Hiking	2.60 Miles	6 Hrs	0.43 mph
	1,100 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

Did this as a day trip to fly fish for the population of Lahontan cutthroat trout in Wildhorse Lake. The area is other-worldly in terms of beauty. Wildhorse Lake is near the top of Steens Mountain, a huge fault block mountain marked by several glacially carved gorges. The trail is fairly steep all the way but easy to follow. Footing is the main concern here. I had the area all to myself for about an hour and was a little surprised by the traffic; there must have been fifteen or so other people who all hiked in for the day and left before me. All in all a highly recommended scenic hike in one of Oregon's most unique landscapes.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cutthroat Trout

_____________________

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

username		X
password		X