We begin the tour here at the northwestern corner of the Great Basin, overlooking Malheur Lake with Mud Lake to the west. Harney Lake is just beyond the sand dunes visible on the western horizon. Lake levels can vary dramatically according to the annual winter snowpack in the Blue Mountains to the north and Steens Mountain to the south. At water levels low enough for emergent plants to grow, Malheur Lake becomes one of the West’s largest inland marshes. At high water levels, such as those that occurred in the 1980s, Malheur Lake floods into Mud and Harney Lakes, becoming Oregon’s largest lake. 

From the overlook, scan the lake for seasonal concentrations of American White Pelican or Tundra Swan, and watch overhead for soaring raptors. Brewer’s Sparrow and Sage Thrasher nest in the surrounding sagebrush, and Refuge headquarters below you can be teeming with songbirds during both spring and fall migrations. 

To continue the tour, cross the paved Sodhouse Lane and enter the Center Patrol Road. 

Looking to the west, you can see the buildings and cottonwood trees of the historic Sod House Ranch. Established and managed by Peter French for Dr. Hugh Glenn in the 1880s, Sod House Ranch was the northern headquarters for this 140,000- acre livestock empire. Eight of the original ranch buildings are still standing, including the restored barn. Many of the original corrals also remain intact. The cottonwood trees were planted in the 1890s and provide nesting habitat for colonial waterbirds, especially Great Blue Heron and Double-crested Cormorant. The ranch is open to the public from August 15 through October 15, and Refuge volunteers are on hand to interpret local history. This is also a perfect time to scour the cottonwoods and willows for migrating songbirds. The remainder of the year, the ranch is managed for wildlife habitat. 

The buildings beyond the ranch comprise the Malheur Field Station. Once a Job Corps center,

General George Wright led some of the earliest troops in settling the West. It is not certain whether Wright actually visited the Blitzen Valley, but in 1865 he died in a shipwreck off the California coast. His name is memorialized in at least two notable Harney County landmarks: Wright’s Point on Highway 205 and Wright’s Pond, which is before you now. 

The Blitzen River flows northward from Steens Mountain to Malheur Lake, making Wright’s Pond one of the last ponds to receive water in the spring. From May to October, however, the pond supports a broad diversity of herons, ducks, and grebes. 

Watch for Black Terns flying low over the water

At this point, you are within the geological province known as the Brothers Fault Zone, a narrow and highly fractured area between the still-spreading Basin-and-Range province to the south and the older, more stable mountains to the north. Look around at the isolated buttes and flat-topped ridges. These fragments of the originally contiguous land- scape have been separated by faulting and subse- quent erosion. Before you finish this tour, you will pass from the Brothers Fault Zone into true Basin- and-Range topography. 

Look to the south, up the Blitzen Valley. To the left is Steens Mountain—a single 35-mile-long fault block and the headwaters of the Blitzen River. As tectonic movement stretched the land between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada and Cascades in an east–west direction, long north–south faults appeared. These breaks in the Earth’s crust separated great blocks of land, tilting them as steep as sixty degrees. 

Steens Mountain, with a summit approaching 10,000 feet, is a classic fault-block mountain, gently sloping on its west side, but dropping vertically a mile to the Alvord Desert on its east side. Snow melt from the broad western face is carried downhill by five major streams, which eventually merge to become the Blitzen River. Over the eons, the river has deposited many feet of sediment on the valley floor. These fertile soils, combined with the waters of the Blitzen River, provide an optimal foundation for the marshes and wet meadows of the Refuge. 

Many homesteaders settled across the Blitzen Valley, but most of their stories have faded with history. One, however, has persevered—that of pioneer mother Nettie McLaughlin. Born in 1852, she was first married to a Mr. Brown at age 17. With him, she bore three children and began raising them at their homestead near this tour stop. Brown soon died, leaving Nettie to raise her family alone. She later married Mr. McLaughlin just one year before her death at age 35. Her grave site remains pre- served on the Refuge just a few miles south of here. 

At this site on our tour, you can glimpse remnants of the old Blitzen River channel with its deeply incised curves typically formed when water moves across sedimentary soils. During prehistoric periods of low water, the Blitzen River meandered around this curve. However, when the river flowed high, it created the bench that is exposed when the high waters recede. These actions created braided channels, which in turn became the sloughs and wetlands that are now used to deliver water to various parts of the Refuge. Adjacent canals and ditches, dug by early ranchers to drain the wetlands, are now being used to create more wet meadows. 

Rattlesnake Butte, which appears to your left, has been important to people since prehistoric times. Nearby, a rocky ledge extends across the river providing the only natural crossing for miles. This point of access, along with the availability of water and a butte from which to survey the surrounding land, made this an important place for bands of Northern Paiute people who first occupied the valley as early as 9,600 years ago. 

By 3,500 years ago, small villages were built around the marshes and along the river. Excavations show the people who lived here harvested waterfowl, rabbits, fish, and large game animals, as well as grass seeds and roots. They built wickiups of bent willow branches covered with brush, cattail mats, or animals skins. These people were known as the Wada’tika or Wada Eaters. Wada, today known as seepweed, was a highly valued plant that grows well in alkali soils. Because of their long connection to the region, modern-day descendants of these people continue to collect and use plant materials on the Refuge, and they occasionally assist with habitat management projects. 

Along the tour route, you may have noticed rows of old juniper fence posts. Volunteer groups have contributed hundreds of hours removing the old wire fences that were hazardous to wildlife. Many posts were left in the ground as perches for raptors, which you may see hunting over the meadows. In the wetlands, these posts are often used by gulls and terns, and you may be lucky enough to spot a Willet or Wilson’s Snipe on one. 

You will also notice that the river has been straightened and channelized along this stretch. This was done by private landowners beginning in 1910. As part of the Swamp Act, landowners drained the meadows to create areas for grazing and haying. This channelization is currently used by the Refuge in managing wetlands, but it provides challenges for the native redband trout (a subspecies of rainbow trout), which has inhabited the Blitzen River since the last Ice Age. The Refuge is developing a long-term plan to make the river more habitable for these specially adapted fish. Watch for some of the sophisticated fish passage structures at various points along the river. 

To continue the auto tour, proceed down the Center Patrol Road and turn at the signed right turn to Buena Vista Ponds. 

The Buena Vista ponds are managed for nesting and migrating waterfowl. In some years, they also serve as nesting habitat for Trumpeter Swan. In the fall, Sandhill Cranes loaf here at night as they stage for their southbound migration. 

As you look at Steens Mountain from this angle, you will see what looks like a rugged chasm on the north side. This is the famous Kiger Gorge, a classic U-shaped valley carved by ice-age glaciers. Although the continental ice sheet did not reach this far south, Steens Mountain was high enough to develop its own glaciers, which left the mountain with five U-shaped gorges. Kiger and McCoy Creeks drain from the north side of the mountain, entering the Refuge through the Diamond Valley, the wide gap in the rimrock to your left. 

As you drive along the ponds, watch for Black and Forster’s Terns feeding over the water, and keep your radar on for the elusive American Bittern, occasionally seen on the opposite side of the road. 

From here you may either drive 3/4 of a mile on the gravel road or walk the 1/4-mile trail to the Buena Vista overlook, which offers a stunning panorama of the Blitzen Valley. Combine the two on foot for an excellent one-mile birding hike. 

The rimrock surrounding the overlook offers one of the best places on the Refuge to get up close and personal with Canyon and Rock Wrens. Watch for Cliff and Violet-green Swallows nesting along the cliff faces and for Bullock’s Oriole and Western Kingbird between the field station and the lower trailhead. In the sagebrush flats behind the overlook, listen carefully on early spring and summer mornings for the sweet songs of the Sage and Black-throated Sparrows. 

To continue the auto tour, retrace your route back to the Center Patrol Road and continue south. 

In the field across the paved road, post-breeding Sandhill Cranes begin congregating in August to prepare for their southerly flight. Up to 250 pairs of cranes nest on the Refuge, but as many as 3,000 may pass through on yearly migrations, stopping at the Refuge to rest and refuel. The eastern edge of this field is often a good place to see pronghorn, North America’s last remaining relative of the antelope family. As the fastest land animal on the continent, pronghorn can run 45 miles/hour for several miles. 

A left turn here would take you on a side trip to the Diamond Valley and Diamond Craters, as well as the historic Peter French Round Barn, another relic of the Glenn/French cattle empire. 

To continue to the southern portion of the auto tour, turn right here and then left onto Highway 205. Continue about six miles south and turn left at Krumbo Lane, just after milepost 47. Drive about 1⁄4 mile to Stop #11, passing the entrance to the southern portion of the Center Patrol Road, to which you will shortly return.