Dropping over a mile in elevation, just below Steens Mountain is the Alvord Desert. It is a 12 by 7 mile playa or dry lake bed. It was created over 24 million years ago when Steens Mountain lifted.
The Alvord Desert is dry and gets an average of 7 inches of rain in a year. This is because of the mountains between it and the ocean. The clouds lose rain when they are forced up over the Coast Range, then twice more when they go over the Cascades and Steens. By the time they get to the Alvord Desert, there is very little moisture. During the wetter years small lakes will form in the playa. They are saline due to deposits left from the old lake. The wind picks up the deposits on the lake and creates dust storms.
At the edge of the desert next to the mountains there are deposits of sediment from Steens Mountain. These deposits at the base of Steens Mountain form wedge-shaped aprons called alluvial fans. They are formed as streams carry sediments from the mountain and drop them at the margin of the Alvord Desert. Vegetation grows in this area because the sediments are a more favorable soil than the lakebed.
Alvord Hotsprings is located at the west edge of the Alvord Playa, close to where one of the major faults that forms the steep east scarp of Steens is located. You can take a refreshing dip in these springs.
Mickey Hotsprings is located on the north side of the Alvord Desert. The pools are not suitable for swimming with temperatures that reach 210 degrees Fahrenheit. The have steam vents, mud pots and glory pools. The characteristics vary with the amount of rainfall. During the winter and spring runoff there are mud pots and steamvents that dry up during the hot summer season.
Scaldpool
Surface of a Hotspring
Mickey Runoff
Borax Hotsprings and Borax Lake are located south of the Alvord Playa. They have been of economic value because of the Borax mining. Borax Lake is the only known habitat of the Borax Lake Chubb, a protected species of fish.
