Wallowa-Whitman National Forest 

The Lord Flat Roadless Area is in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. The west edge of this area is two miles as the crow flies from the village of Imnaha, about 30 miles northeast of the town of Joseph.

When one rises from the depths of Hells Canyon, they reach the west rim and gaze westward upon a forested plateau, falling at first gently, then dramatically. Composed mostly of Columbia River basalt, the Lord Flat plateau is graced with old growth ponderosa pine and decorated with lush meadows and marshes.

From the 6,500-foot plateau, the land descends northwest to the rimrock canyons of Cow, Lightning and Horse Creeks. By the time these creeks empty into the Imnaha River at 1,000 feet above sea level, their canyons are a spectacle of knife-edged ridges.

 The Lord Flat Roadless Area adjoins the Hells Canyon Wilderness where its boundary ends at the rim. Together at 110,000 acres, it is one of the largest contiguous chunks of backcountry remaining in national forest lands in Oregon. Technically, it adjoins the Imnaha Face roadless area to the south, adding another 27,000 roadless acres.

The Lord Flat Area provides unparalleled habitat for the largest free-roaming elk herd in North America. Bighorn sheep, marten, peregrine falcon and many other rare species exist in its secluded folds. Endangered spring chinook salmon maintain a desperate foothold in its creeks.

The key threats confronting the Lord Flat Roadless area are logging, where the Forest Service has roaded and clearcut its fringes; livestock grazing, where cattle impact its grasslands; and the infamous Lord Flat "Road". This jeep track runs along 15 miles of the west rim, enabling motor vehicle access to the heart of the largest pristine roadless expanse in the State of Oregon: the Hells Canyon Wilderness and the Lord Flat and other adjacent Roadless Areas.