What percent of Oregon is desert? (Hood River, Wallowa: appointed, estimate, horses)

[MimzyMusic]

I would say about 35%, maybe?

[ExNooYawk]

After this summer, it seems like half the state is desert.

[Wicked Felina]

I don't know off-hand. But I think it's a pretty large area of the state...maybe more than half? I'm talking about high desert as well.

[sarahkate_m]

you have dry extreme weather east of the cascades & run for your life before it overtakes you---> moss on the west side.

correct me if I'M wrong.

I googled your question about percentage & came up nada... I'd guess 20-30% is desert.

I was surprised when I learned Idaho had desert. I'm kinda ignorant that way...

Kate

[malachai23]

I would say approximately 75% - all of the area east of the Cascades, basically is high desert, no?

[Wicked Felina]

This got me thinking. Mimzy.

I found this site..click on a region, they have some gorgeous pics. We rarely get pics of the "eastside" posted on here.

I'm not counting acreage, but by view it appears that malachai23's guestimate is the closest!

Click a region to learn more — Oregon Natural Desert Association

[malachai23]

That's a neat map Felina! I actually forgot about the Wallowas etc up in NE Oregon. Yah, guess that area wouldn't be considered desert.

[delta07]

Take a look at this topographical map of Oregon:

Google Image Result for http://www.oregonwild.org/oregon_forests/map-gallery-1/Oregon_topo_map.jpg/image_preview

I would say that malachai is closer percentage wise than the others.

[hamellr]

Oregon has 7 seven climate zones and 4 more sub-climate zones making it the most diverse of any state. Everything east of the Cascades is considered High Desert, IE gets under a certain amount of rain per a year. The High part comes from the fact that the majority of the area is 1000+ feet from the Ocean, which is different then the traditional climate definition of a desert.

Even though large areas of Eastern Oregon are forested, they're still considered High Desert. The Fremont Forest being a classic example. If you go there, there are a lot of trees, but very little ground cover compared to forests west of the Cascades. Rivers and lakes are few. Travel East of the Fremont just a few miles and the predominant wild animal becomes antelope instead of deer, and there is nothing but dry grass and the occasional farm.

Another good way to see this is to do the Hood River loop around Mt. Hood or travel to Timothy Lake on Mt. Hood. On the east side you'll notice it's mostly Ponderosa Pines. Timothy Lake itself is technically in the High Desert area, yet travel just a few miles west and the forest makes an extremely drastic change to Douglas Fir, Spruce and a smattering of Cedar.

[karlsch]

Only a small portion of Oregon is what most people would consider to be the desert.

High Desert to describe Eastern Oregon is deceptive. Although most of the area is fairly dry, in actuality, except for a portion of the southeastern part*, it certainly does not have what most people would consider the characteristics of a desert.

Many people have said that it was a mistake to call this part of North America the High Desert, and that it should have been called the North American Steppe, instead. In many ways it is like huge areas of the vast Eurasian Steppe, which also have ten to twenty inches of rain and cold winters and hot summers, and nobody considers those to be deserts.

A tourist traveling to Eastern Oregon to see the desert would be very disappointed. It’s true that there are large areas of sagebrush, but there are also wheat fields, many ranches with grazing cattle and horses, lakes, rivers and creeks, tree covered mountains in large national forests, ski areas, etc, etc.

*Alvord Desert - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
*The Real Oregon - Alvord Desert