Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge
Wildlife Reserve · Lakeview, Oregon
Some 278,000 acres of high desert on and around Hart Mountain in Lake County, established in 1936 to protect what was left of the pronghorn herds after they were shot down to a few thousand animals nationally. The refuge rises from playa lakes at 4,500 feet to a fault scarp at 8,000, and holds pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mule deer, sage grouse and over 300 species in all. There is a free primitive campground with a hot spring in it, and essentially nothing else.
20995 Rabbit Hill Road, Lakeview, Oregon, 97630, United States
FREE and open at all times, year round in principle - there is no entrance station, no fee and no permit. ⚠ ACCESS IS THE WHOLE CONSTRAINT: the approach is roughly 65 miles of gravel from Lakeview or Plush, and the roads are snowed in or impassably muddy from about November to April. There is no fuel, no shop, no drinking water beyond the campground tap and no mobile signal on the refuge. Hot Springs Campground is free, primitive and first-come, and includes a natural hot spring pool. Parts of the refuge close seasonally to protect sage-grouse leks and calving pronghorn.
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