Oregon High Desert —2024Emptiest Place in the Lower Forty-Eight
After a break I find myself back in the hospitality game at yet another seasonal remote National Register of Historic Places hotel and Oregon State Heritage site with no televisions or telephones and night skies dark enough to see the Milky Way - this time in eastern Oregon’s high desert. The historic Frenchglen Hotel, adjacent to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and at the base of Steens Mountain, is a refuge and wayside for intrepid travelers and long-distance Oregon Desert Trail hikers. With 13 guest rooms and three square meals daily from mid-March through October, folks also stay at FGH to explore nearby Alvord Desert, Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, catch a glimpse of Kiger mustangs or as a stopover on the way to the stunning geological formation of Leslie Gulch. Harney County, in which the tiny town of Frenchglen is located, has been dubbed proudly by its own as “the emptiest place in the lower forty-eight”; no doubt the predominant ranching community with its buckaroos, a legendary American cowboy who evolved from the vaqueros of early California, prefers it that way, as do I.
The Frenchglen Hotel is 100 years old in 2024!
Hotel staff Matt, Josh and Conlan jammin' on the front porch.
Hiking on Malheur National Wildlife Refuge directly across the road from the hotel.
Mary the chicken whisperer with the hotel's breakfast egg suppliers.
Oregon Desert Trail through-hikers are ready to tackle Steens Mountain after a resupply, R&R and legendary Frenchglen Hotel hospitality.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge hosts more than 340 bird species and 58 mammal species.
Kiger Gorge lookout with its iconic "gun sight" feature, is accessible only in the warmest months of the year when the 59-mile loop road around Steens Mountain, Oregon's highest road, is open.
Peak wildflower bloom on Steens Mountain is typically from early July through the end of August.
Wildhorse Lake trail on Steens Mountain starts at 9500' and descends to 8430'.
The magnificent Sid and majestic Big Indian Gorge from its lookout on Steens Mountain loop road.
Another four hours from Frenchglen is Leslie Gulch, a canyon with abundant and striking rock formations made of tuff, a type of rock made of volcanic ash.
Frenchglen is a day's drive from Portland, Oregon, making it possible to visit grandson Winslow and family on a long weekend.