Fish Creek Rim Wilderness (Proposed)

Suggested Citation: Kerr, Andy. 2000. Oregon Desert Guide: 70 Hikes. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. p. 110.

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Great views of the Warner Valley, Warner Mountains, and Hart Mountain with a good chance to see bighorn sheep.

Location: Lake County, 2 miles north of Adel

Size: 61 square miles (39,263 acres)

Terrain: Gentle rolling hills and flats and one precipitous high rim

Elevation Range: 4,500-6,932 feet

Managing Agency: Lakeview District BLM

Agency Wilderness Status: 16,690-acre BLM wilderness study area; 11,920 acres recommended

Recreation Map: Southeast Quarter, South Half Lakeview Resource Area, Lakeview District BLM

The area is dominated by a very rugged east-facing scarp that rises steeply above the Warner Valley. To the west are broad sage flats with bitterbrush, other shrubs, and scattered pockets of juniper. Below the rim are some interesting benches in a completely natural condition with thickets of mountain mahogany and stands of juniper, ponderosa pine, and white fir. The area includes some of the largest and best-quality mountain mahogany stands within Oregon's Basin and Range. The white fir and ponderosa pine are disjunct from those of the Warner Mountains 13 miles to the west and include some truly old-growth specimens.

The sheer cliffs towering over the lakes below are habitat suitable for the reintroduction of the peregrine falcon. They also have high concentrations of other raptors.

Wildlife habitat and viewing are both excellent. Sage grouse, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and mule deer are the most charismatic wildlife of the area. At least one prehistoric bighorn sheephunting complex, including rock blinds, is known. Rock art along the rim can also be seen. A pronghorn kidding ground (for giving birth, not joking around) is also in the area.

The area is included in the Oregon Biodiversity Project's Hart Mountain Conservation Opportunity Area.