South Fork John Day River Back Country Byway
BLM Back Country Byway 86 mi in Oregon.
About the South Fork John Day River Back Country Byway
This gravelled Back Country Byway parallels the Wild and Scenic South Fork John Day River through its incised canyon for a distance of 50 miles from its northern terminus at Dayville to the northern border of Malheur National Forest to the south. This drive takes visitors through deep canyons of Columbia River Basalts, through stands of old growth ponderosa pines, Douglas and white fir, and willows that line the road. The river itself contains beautiful rapids and the Izee Falls, which drops 56 feet vertically.
Along the way, you’ll pass the Aldrich Mountain Wilderness Study Area as well as the Black Canyon Wilderness, two areas with ample opportunities for hiking, hunting and wildlife viewing. The Murderer's Creek area has plentiful wildlife, including deer, elk, black bear, coyotes, bighorn sheep, and upland birds.
Bureau of Land Management's own description, in its words. Byway page on blm.gov.
Camping along the byway
- Mile 23 · 2.1 mi offFrazier Campground · Forest Service
- Mile 56 · 4.6 mi offEmigrant Campground · Forest Service
- Mile 56 · 4.6 mi offFalls Campground · Forest Service
- Mile 58 · 2.3 mi offYellowjacket Campground · Forest Service
Public campgrounds within 5 miles of the road as the crow flies, in order along the byway; each one's page has its facts, season and weather by month.
About this page's facts
The line is the Federal Highway Administration's scenic byways layer (HEPGIS, a snapshot of 2022-06-24, a US government work), cut at the state line and simplified for the map; the length is the line's. The designation is the program's own: the national tiers from FHWA's America's Byways roster, the rest from the layer's designation field. Road conditions, closures and seasonal gates change: check the agency's own page and the state's road conditions before you go.