The refuge comprises 187,000 acres of marsh around lakes Harney and Malheur. Each spring and fall, thousands of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway stop here. Among the 320 bird species sojourning at Malheur are sandhill cranes, white-faced ibis, white pelicans, long-billed curlews, snowy egrets, trumpeter swans, avocets and snow geese. Check out the refuge visitor center for information on the 42mi self-guided auto tour through Blitzen Valley. An alternate route leads to Diamond Craters (18mi southwest of New Princeton), site of a recent lava eruption (within the last 25,000 years). One river does flow out of the desert. The Owyhee River curves along the Idaho border east of Steens Mountain, slices a deep, spectacular canyon, and eventually joins the Snake. A Wild and Scenic River, it is virtually inaccessible except to white-water boaters. Only in spring is there enough water to float beneath the 1,200ft basalt walls.