The west side of the Elkhorn Mountains is poor in lakes and trails but comparatively rich in roads.

And what is a road, after all, but a wider-than-average trail?

On the east side of the range — the side that towers in places more than 5,000 feet above Baker Valley — most of the major canyons gouged by Ice Age glaciers are graced in their upper ends by alpine lakes.

Pine Creek Reservoir, Rock Creek, Killamacue, Summit, Lost, Dutch Flat and Van Patten lakes, among others, are all east of the Elkhorn crest.

The west side, by contrast, boasts only one stellar example of a glacial valley, with the two tarns of Twin Lakes in its cirque — the amphitheater-shaped bowl at the top of the valley.

But although the terrain west of the crest isn’t quite so dramatic, it’s hardly gentle.

And despite lacking photogenic lakes of deep blue, the western canyons have fetching little streams of cold spring water.

Also roads.

On the opposite side of the Elkhorns, the roads are generally confined to the bottoms of the canyons.

They are, with rare exceptions, exceedingly rough routes, traveled far more often by ATVs or UTVs than by pickup trucks or SUVs.

But roads on the west side of the range — the Sumpter side, that is — are both much more numerous and, in general, much less likely to bust your oil pan or dislodge a shock absorber.

This road network gives travelers, whether on foot or on wheels, a variety of perspectives of the great summits, such as Elkhorn Peak, Rock Creek Butte and several others which, curiously, lack names. These mountains look quite different from the Sumpter Valley side than they do from Baker Valley.

I hiked a road on Sunday, Sept. 10 that climbs higher into the Elkhorns than most.

If I had been on the 7240-150 road before, I didn’t recall the journey.

I picked the route, after looking over a topographic map, mainly because it ascended to a point that I figured would afford a fine view for me and my wife, Lisa, and our son, Max.

This it does.

The 150 road actually cleaves two canyons — the east fork of Alder Creek and that stream’s mainstem.

The access roads to the 150 junction are steep in places but are well-graveled and, unlike, say the North Powder River Road east of the Elkhorn crest, don’t require four-wheel drive and the ground clearance of an adult moose.

No matter how often I venture into the mountains I am always impressed by how different opposite sides of a great range — or even a minor ridge — can be.

The forests on each side of the Elkhorns are superficially similar, with many species represented in both areas — ponderosa pines, Douglas-firs, tamaracks, along with subalpine firs and whitebark pines near the crest, and prickly Engelmann spruce near the streams.

But the west side, which is more exposed to the sunlight and is comparatively drier and warmer, is far more hospitable to ponderosa pines.

Most of this country was logged several decades ago, but a fair number of old-growth pines and tamaracks remain. They seem particularly impressive, in girth and height, against the backdrop of the younger forest that has grown thickly since the logging. This is in places a classic mixed conifer forest, with multiple types of firs (Douglas-, grand and white) and pines (ponderosa and lodgepole).

The 150 road climbs steeply for almost a mile, gaining about 700 feet of elevation. After a switchback the road heads mainly to the northwest, climbing more gently on the east side of the canyon above Alder Creek’s east fork.

We paused where the road crosses the stream. It was a warmish day for September and the creek, though just a foot or so wide, was chilly and refreshing.

The yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets were neither.

Their incessant buzzing, and the risk for stings, ruined my plan for a rest in the shade beside the stream.

Road 150 heads west and crosses into the main Alder Creek drainage. Where the road rounds a ridge there is a break in the trees and an unobstructed view across the canyon to the abandoned lime quarry above Baboon Creek. This quarry, along with another along Marble Creek on the east side of the range, was a source of industrial lime for a couple decades.

According to a 1989 paper written by the late Howard C. Brooks, who worked at the Baker City office of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries from 1956 to 1991, the Baboon Creek quarry operated from 1963 to 1971. It opened after the Marble Creek quarry, which opened in 1957, closed in 1963. Limestone from both quarries was processed at a plant near Wingville Road, about 5 miles north of Baker City. Total production amounted to $7.35 million, according to Brooks’ research.

The Baboon Creek quarry was significant beyond its economic contributions.

Tony Brandenthaler, who owned both quarries, had a road built to connect the two. The road, which crosses the crest at Marble Creek Pass, is one of the great local engineering feats — and a daunting trip for the drivers who guided trucks loaded with limestock down its precipitous grades and through its hairpin turns.

As the 150 road climbs the Alder Creek Canyon we could see the brown strip of that road, more than 1,000 feet above, as it ascends above Baboon Creek to the pass.

We turned back where the road crosses Alder Creek — 2.7 miles from where we started on the 7240 road. The yellowjackets and hornets were again accounted for.

The road continues for another mile or so, ending above Baboon Creek.

I like the perspective of Rock Creek Butte from this area — tallest summit in the Elkhorns at 9,106 feet. From the west side of the crest the peak is pyramidal, tapering to a sharp point, quite unlike its appearance from the east, where the summit is comparatively broad.

The 150 road was relatively smooth. Although there are a couple of tank traps at the start, neither poses much of obstacle to an off-road vehicle or even, I suspect, most four-wheel drives.

The road washed out at the Alder Creek crossing — there are two metal culverts exposed, only one of which, in late summer’s desultory flow, was carrying water — but this too would be easy to negotiate in a rig.

I always prefer a loop hike, but none is possible in this area without a cross-country scramble.

Drive Highway 7 south from Baker City toward Sumpter. At the west end of Phillips Reservoir, just beyond the turnoff to Hudspeth Lane and past Milepost 29 (about 20 miles from Baker City), turn right onto Larch Creek Road. There are two roads here, both gravel and both marked by signs. Deer Creek Road heads uphill to the left. Larch Creek Road is just to the east, and is almost flat.

Continue on Larch Creek Road, which passes several homes and then descends briefly into meadows along Deer Creek. The road crosses the creek just before 2 miles, and after a cattle guard heads uphill. At about 3.4 miles there’s a junction. Road 6510 heads to the left, and Road 7240 continues straight. Stay on 7240.

Follow 7240 for 2.7 miles to its junction with the 150 Road, on the left side.