Hiking SE Oregon

Try picking up the Oregon Desert Trail. Check out the Desert Trail Association website at: http://www.thedeserttrail.org/ They have some information, but also have maps that you can order. This site has some more info and pictures on the Pueblo Mountains. Looks like a nice place to visit if you enjoy the stark landscape: http://www.highonadventure.com/Hoa98oct/Pueblos/pueblo.htm

You could also try to find Chalk Basin. I've never been there, but the pictures I've seen are awesome. I'm not sure where exactly they are but it would definitely be worth looking up.

One good option would be to visit the Alvord Desert, it is very spectacular, especially in the late spring when Steen’s Mountain is still covered in snow.

I did the Carlton/Painted Canyon trip outlined in Douglas Lorain’s Backpacking Oregon book, and it was absolutely spectacular. We hit it in late March and had a wide range of weather, everything from sunny and 70’s to snow on our last day. A good vehicle is recommended to get to and from the trailhead. We did it in our Subaru outback which did ok, but on the way out we had to deal with some rain, which made the dirt roads turn into clay, so it took some time to get out. The path through the canyons is amazing, very reminiscent of the canyons of Utah or Arizona with spectacular rock pinnacles and pillars.