Oregon's Outback: An Auto Tour Guide to Southeast Oregon

Rating:
Summary: amateur
Review: An extremely amateur publication, quite poorly written. Samples: "Bald eagles ply azure skies, and trumpeter swans arch their necks gracefully in local lakes, singing a beautiful tune. Rattlesnakes slither and coil, horned lizards burrow in the sand, spiny armor discouraging hungry predators. And if that isn't enough, pronghorn still play, stretching out across sagebrush plains." And, "while many would-be homesteaders tried to scrape out a living and failed, others struggled and survived with several ranches being owned and operated by the same family for many generations." Of course, if you find nothing wrong with those sentences, you may be able to read the whole guide. I couldn't.

Includes decently-sized black & white photos.

Rating:
Summary: Oregon's Outback
Review: This guidebook provides the road traveler with a wealth of information for a very unique area of Oregon, its southeastern area. Six tours are offered in the guidebook; Hart Mountain, Steens Mountain Loop, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Jordan Valley Area, Alvord Desert Loop, and Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. When I think of Oregon, I think of the coast and the wet climate. Oregon's southeast is a drier climate and most of the tour areas described in the book are located inside of the Great Basin. The book has route maps, detailed mileage markers, offers side trips information and hiking suggestions. Whether you are looking for hot springs, scenic vistas, historical sites, quaint towns and animal and plant life, I think you should pick up a copy of the guidebook, get in your motor vehicle, and check out this ecologically diverse side of Oregon.