Oregon Outback

Summer is warm with cool nights and occasional thunderstorms, with fall bringing crisp weather that can be interrupted by snow as soon as late October.

The region is a high desert plateau averaging roughly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in elevation, periodically broken by sometimes massive fault-block mountains.

Pronghorn are also a common species; in fact, the herd protected on the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is one of the largest in North America.

Much of the area is publicly owned, primarily under Bureau of Land Management (BLM) control.

In fact, this controversy led to the creation of the Steens Mountain Wilderness, which includes some of the only designated livestock-free zones in the nation.