# Spring Break, Alvord Desert



## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

We headed out for Spring Break to a new riding destination this year along with two other families. Our destination was pretty much in the middle of no where called the Alvord Desert. It's located in SE Oregon and is made up of a old dry lake bed and surrounding desert & mountains. Our first day there the temps were in the upper 50s and we thought we were in for a warm spring break. Then the weather set in and we had one nasty evening of extremely high winds, 50MPH plus. All of our RVs were rocking and rolling pretty bad and we didn't sleep much, the next day was bitter cold so we pretty much just stayed inside. The other days the weather was much better, still downright cold most of the time but we had the right gear. Tuesday the winds kicked up again, thankfully after our ride this time.

We had a blast, nothing like being able to open the throttle all the way and hit 60 on our utility ATV. Most of the rides were about 60 miles since nothing to see is close by and you need to cross the lake bed. The mountains we camped near were ok for adults but a bit to much snow and loose rock for the kids.

After the days at the Desert we headed up to refill and charge the batteries then headed near Baker City, OR to Virtue Flats. More sagebrush and about 5,000 acres of riding area. Nice but small after being at the Alvord Desert.

More trip photos









View of the Alvord Desert dry lake bed, about 12 miles long and 7 miles wide









View from the mountains behind camp, the white spec on the right is our base camp, we were up about 6400' camp was around 4100'









Road to no where, with the bad weather setting in we turned around and headed back to camp









Part of our group with the Steens Mountains in the background









View from my perch, the AWD seemed to give a bit more traction, got up to about 60 MPH









Second day we headed out to Big Sand Gap









3 families, 9 ATVs & 3 dirtbikes









Heading out to Borax Lake









One of the hot springs at Borax lake, more impressive in person









That's not snow, that's the dry stuff we road on much of the time we were around the lake bed


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

so do you need a vacation to rest after vacation?


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## vtxbud (Apr 4, 2009)

Y-guy..
Looks like a fun place to ride. 
Have you done the Paiute Trails in Utah ? I was down there last July, what a great trail system they have, and very ATV friendly.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

It was fun to ride there, so far I've only found one person that knew where it is.

We road the Paiute Trail, Bryce area & Coral Pink Sand Dunes in 2007 when we went down to the Outbackers Rally in Zion, hope to be going back next summer too.

I've also been looking at some ride areas in southern BC & AL too, very beautiful areas.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Looks like a good time, but the pictures of you and your family blazing through muddy creek beds, all covered in mud seem like a more enjoyable ride.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

LOL Jim, I had one day of that on this trip. Came across the desert to where one of the hot springs emptied out into the lake bed. I decided to head straight across it to save time instead of going around. My new tires don't hold mud, instead they throw it off. I had bits of mud flying everywhere. I got pretty scared at one point as my speed dropped very low and I was having a tough time, dropped into 4 wheel Low and chugged through it the rest of the way. My ATV and I had mud all over by the time I got out. Later I heard that some guy had lost an pick up in that mess and it had sunk down to the mirrors. Whew!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Y-Guy said:


> LOL Jim, I had one day of that on this trip. Came across the desert to where one of the hot springs emptied out into the lake bed. I decided to head straight across it to save time instead of going around. My new tires don't hold mud, instead they throw it off. I had bits of mud flying everywhere. I got pretty scared at one point as my speed dropped very low and I was having a tough time, dropped into 4 wheel Low and chugged through it the rest of the way. My ATV and I had mud all over by the time I got out. Later I heard that some guy had lost an pick up in that mess and it had sunk down to the mirrors. Whew!


Now THAT is the type of story (wish you had pictures) I like to read about.


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Cool pics.. That wide open stuff would sure be fun.. Looks like you guys had the place to yourselves too, which makes any trip much better..

Carey


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> Looks like you guys had the place to yourselves too, which makes any trip much better..


The only guy we saw riding was camped just up the hill from us, and he just went from his rig to the hot spring. Other then that we didn't see anyone while on the trails. We did watch some wild horses one of the trips, which was fun but they were pretty spooked. The hippies at the hot springs and a few passing trucks each day was it.


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