Frenchglen

Spring Weather (click image for detail)

For many years we have made Frenchglen, Oregon a base camp for fishing trips to the S.E. corner of Oregon. It is 62 miles south of Burns, 194 miles southeast of Bend, Oregon or 240 miles west of Boise,Idaho . . . and smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

Frenchglen is located in Harney County which has a population of only 7,200 people in an area of over 10,000 square miles. It is the largest county in Oregon and the ninth largest in the US.

Even though fishing is our principal objective, it is usually the wildlife, the scenery or local history that really makes this one of our favorite road-trip destinations. One night while van-camping we had three great horned owls hunt from our roof, scritch-scratching all night long. It was great. The Malheur Wildlife Refuge is an internationally famous bird watching destination and Malheur Lake forms one of the largest freshwater marshes in the country. Over 50,000 birders, from all over the world visit each year.

Some of our favorite non-fishing places in the Frenchglen area are: Diamond Valley, the Peter French round barn, the Steens Mountain loop road, the Alvord Desert and Crane Hot Springs. This is the kind of place where you may be lucky enough to see the wild Kigar mustangs, giant mule deer bucks, rattlesnakes, any number of the 340 species of birds, AND some nice rainbow, cutthroat and brook trout.

We fish Mann Lake, Krumbo Res., the Blitzen River, as well as other small streams and lakes. The fishing can be very good if there has been enough rain or snow in the high country. Frenchglen only gets about 10 inches of rain a year so conditions can vary.

The town of Frenchglen is a frizbee toss wide and couple hundred yards long. There you will find the historic Frenchglen Hotel, offering great family style meals and lively conversation. For ice, gas and snacks, local information and interesting collectables, stop in at the Frenchglen Mercantile. Another ten buildings make up the rest of the town. Small, isolated, friendly Frenchglen. We just can't stay away.