Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, Wilderness area in the Blue Mountains, Oregon, US

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness covers 69,350 acres of the Strawberry Mountain Range in Malheur National Forest, eastern Oregon, rising from 4,000 feet to the 9,038-foot summit of Strawberry Mountain. Dense spruce, fir, pine and larch forests on the slopes give way to bare ridges above, and seven alpine lakes, including Strawberry, High and Slide Lakes, fill basins carved by glaciers. Strawberry Creek drops 40 feet at Strawberry Falls.

The area was first formally protected in 1964 under the Wilderness Act, which placed it among the earliest federally designated wilderness areas in the country. The Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 later expanded its boundaries, adding more of the surrounding forest and mountain terrain to the protected zone.

Strawberry Lake, a small mountain lake tucked below the high peaks, draws many hikers who stop there to rest during longer routes. The lake sits at the base of rocky slopes and gives a clear sense of how the land shifts from forest to open rock as you climb.

The wilderness is reached by unpaved forest roads that can be rough or impassable depending on the season, so checking road conditions before setting out is a good idea. Snow can linger at higher elevations well into summer, which affects trail access on many routes leading to the upper terrain.

Five of North America's seven major life zones are found within this one area, meaning a single hike can take you through ecosystems that are otherwise separated by hundreds of miles. This kind of range within a single protected area is rare across the continent.