Come see the antelope!
Written: Sep 30 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Scenery: |
 |
|
| Crowds: |
|
|
| Time needed for visit: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Lots to see, beautiful views.
Cons: Long drive to get there.
The Bottom Line: A wonderful place to visit; the wildlife and the views are spectacular, and unlike anything I've ever seen.
|
|
|
| adventureman73's Full Review: Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge |
We visited the HMNAR on September 27, 2003. We really had no idea what to expect, since the websites
http://refuges.fws.gov/profiles/index.cfm?id=14622
http://pacific.fws.gov/refuges/field/OR_hartmtn.htm
weren't very helpful. But we were prepared for antelope, and we were not disappointed in that regard.
The drive from La Pine State Park (where we stayed the night before) was about 4 hours. The drive there was very scenic, and quite beautiful. Several lakes were passed, although they were dry at this time of year. We passed through several tiny towns, where you could see remnants of buildings that had probably been used by early settlers/farmers in the late 19th century.
Once we got to the refuge's entrance, it was all uphill...literally. The refuge itself is on top a very large mesa. None of the roads are paved, and they recommend a 4x4 to enter the refuge. I'd have to agree with that; the roads are gravel at best, and rocky and rutted at worst. Apparently after a rain some of the roads are impassible, so take note.
We saw pronghorn antelope from the minute we got to the top of the mesa. There were I'd say hundreds of them, ranging about. They don't care for vehicles, which is good, but they're not very afraid, either. Binoculars and a zoom camera are a must if you want to get a good look at the wildlife; they never get closer than about 1000 feet. There were also many different types of birds we saw, though I can't even begin to name them. We did see a pair of golden eagles which were very beautiful.
There are bighorn sheep in the hills of the refuge, as well, though we never saw any. The visitor book at the ranger station had a note about several people seeing mountain lions within the last month. Again, we saw none, but it would have been quite amazing if we had.
The Refuge itself is very large, covering several hundred square miles. As I mentioned, there is a ranger station where you can get air for your tires (for those who want to do some off-roading) and brochures on the Refuge. There was no one about when we were there, but there are a couple private residences near the station where the rangers live.
There are several trails for hiking and driving; we only ventured out on a couple. Poker Jim trail is a "jeep trail," and I would highly recommend a Jeep Wrangler or something similar. Our 4Runner tackled it pretty well, but a more "rugged" vehicle would be better. DO NOT take any sort of AWD or low-slung vehicle on this road...you'll be walking back to the ranger station.
The other trail we took went down to the Petroglyph Lake...this is where we saw the eagles. This trail is much better, and could probably be handled by something a little less formidable than a Jeep. Once you reach the end, there's a 1-2 mile hike around the cliffs surrounding the lake. There are several examples of petroglyphs, which are quite remarkable.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: Anytime
Recommended for: Familes
Review Topic: Wildlife
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
adventureman73
|
|
Location: Corvallis, OR, USA
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Please, Tread Lightly!!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.