4-5-21: Wanting to experience some of the Eastern Oregon ‘Outback” as well as sample some hot springs I made reservations to stay at Summer lake hot springs. A favorite with the burning man crowd, the 145 acre resort offers guest cabins and RV sites and of course the mineral baths.
Having never been to this part of Eastern Oregon I was excited to visit the area and experience the hot springs while taking in some of the remotest parts of Oregon. How remote you ask? Well, the nearest city of Paisley, OR has a population of 243, and is located in Lake County with has a total population of only 7,895 in 8,358 square miles of land. That is more than 1 square mile per person, I’m liking those numbers! 🙂
The ride over OR-140 to US-395 was a real treat, no traffic, like you could stop, get out and lay down in the road level of no traffic. This was a preview of coming attractions. Coming from Medford it was a very pleasant 4 hour drive and I arrived in the early afternoon to set up camp. The resorts RV sites have full hook ups and I was settled in and ready for my first of many trips to the hot springs. Covid and the off-season has caused the main pool to be closed but the bathhouse showers and 3 outdoor tubs were available.
My favorite tub / happy place 
Looking back at camp 
Your view while soaking 
The outdoor tubs
The hot mineral water felt to be about 100-105 degrees, or similar to a hot tub and it really was nice for soaking the miles off. I visited multiple times during my stay and was often the only occupant, weekday travel advantage strikes again. You can visit the tub after 9pm if you’re interested in a more natural clothing optional experience.
On day 2 I explored nearby Lake Abert, which sadly due to the lack of rain is currently hardly there at all. Having quickly seen enough blowing salt for the day I decided to return to camp and fix lunch. Rather than backtrack on US-395 around the lake, I found County/Forest Service roads and was able to make my way back to camp completely off paved roads. Lots of open cattle range and hay fields seem to be the primary agriculture in these parts.
The lonesome scenery really struck a chord with me and I enjoyed exploring and way-finding back to camp immensely.
wide open road 
The wind blown salt coming off the lake
Since the wind had come up and was blowing quite strong at camp and I wanted to escape the wind, I thought that getting up into the hills and forest above Summer lake would be better, so I packed a picnic lunch and set out. Just a mile or so down the road I was able to find a Forest Service road that heading up and away from the lake. It was very tame gravel road and except for one small side trip to explore a camp site could easily be done in any car. Sadly some of this area was affected by recent wildfires and you could still see areas of standing burned trees with lots of deadfalls and clean up activity taking place, however I was able to still find lots of nice areas and also a road side spring for my picnic spot.
strong winds blowing salt/dust off Summer lake 
My lunch spot 
View from Summer Lake hot springs looking out over Summer lake
The night skies were beautiful with no light pollution and I experimented with taking some photos at night, i.e astrophotography. It is a great opportunity to learn more about your camera and going off auto mode into the never-land of manual settings is challenging. I hope to improve as I travel in the remote parts of the Western US.
Here is the best shot I got out of nearly 100 photos, unfortunately I was slightly out of focus. Practice practice…
A very enjoyable first visit to this area and I will definitely return to explore further, there are many hot springs in this area and also Hart Mountain National Antelope refuge about another 3.5 hours east.
Hey Its Gregg! 