John Fremont Route

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:54:46 +0000

“But at The Dalles, having completed his primary orders to connect his reconnaissance with the surveys of naval Commander Charles Wilkes, Fremont disregarded orders to return to the United States by way of the Oregon Trail. Instead, he explored south from The Dalles along the eastern side of the Cascade Range. This expedition across central and southern Oregon and into the Great Basin and Sierra passes was his most significant contribution to western exploration.”*

Fremont’s route through south central Oregon crosses through spectacular, varied terrain on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. This is a land of vulcanism as evident in the twin calderas of Newberry Crater and, of course, Crater Lake itself, and Fort Rock.

Further south, the land cracks and water is infrequent, and when is does snow and rain, water flows down into basins from the ridges and rims to form lakes with no outlets. Basin and range country where you find amazing, stark contrasts between barren sage desert and salt flats and land saturated with water in the mile high, 30,000 acre Sycan Marsh, and in Summer Lake below Winter Rim.

*Read more about John Fremont’s exploration of Oregon at the Oregon Historic Trails Fund website.

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Historic Trail Rides

John Fremont Route