27px, we want 27. Please register or login . From gentle sloping hills the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness falls into extremely steep, timbered canyons below a high plateau instead of rising into high peaks to offer a somewhat unique Wilderness experience. Down along the river you'll probably feel more isolated than the acreage of the area would indicate.
Vegetation ranges from juniper and sagebrush to fir, spruce, pine and western larch.
Elevations range from about 6,000 feet to about 2,000 feet in a relatively short distance to provide a substantial physical workout. A major force pushing for designation of this area was the high quality water of the North Fork Umatilla River which supports large runs of anadromous fish including steelhead, an attraction to anglers. Several streams house native trout. Hunters come for big game animals including a fairly large population of Rocky Mountain elk. Here in the northern Blue Mountains the weather tends to change radically and unpredictably any day of the year, but snows are usually gone by early spring.