BOISE — Step out of your tent or camper in the morning and your eyes are immediately drawn to rock formations.

The silhouettes of pyramid, turret and needle-shaped cliffs leave you in a trance, especially before that first cup of coffee in the morning.

It's spring and it's the best time to visit the high desert of Oregon and Idaho. You'll be greeted by an array of colors from wildflowers to pastel-colored rocks highlighted with a brush stroke of morning or late-evening sunlight. Head out in the desert this weekend. And, if you want, take a hike or climb a cliff.

The birds are your alarm clock in the desert in the spring. In fact, they get you up before first light so you can get that first cup of coffee and sit out in the camp chair watching the colors of the rock formations change as the sun's intensity increases.

"It is absolutely gorgeous," said Karen Ray of Boise, who was camped at Leslie Gulch in southeastern Oregon last month.

It was a time to watch the magnificent views of rock formations, which are right out your tent flap.

"What a beautiful place," she said.

The high desert of southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon lures campers and trekkers this time of the year.

It's the time to explore the Owyhee uplands and canyonlands before it gets too hot.

From the Owyhee Uplands National Backcountry Byway near Grand View to Leslie Gulch near Marsing, the high desert beckons desert rats.

"It's very different. I love the open space," said Lance Coleman of Boise, as he pitched his tent in the shadow of an orange-brown rock spire in Leslie Gulch.

"The color of the rocks is fantastic," he said.

For Robert Adducci, who is from Phoenix, camping at Leslie Gulch was the spring tonic he needed.

"It's awesome," said "The desert camping here is amazing."

The desert areas in this region are some of the most remote in the Llower 48 Sstates.

Back roads lead to isolated canyons and vistas where you can see for more than 100 miles on a clear day. You may not pass another motorist on the backroads back roads.

Here are a few places to experience camping in the high desert, from primitive campgrounds to a state park with lots of services:

LESLIE GULCH (Primitive camping): Leslie Gulch is a canyonlands adventure in southeast Oregon that's fairly easy to get to for a weekend campout or even a day trip. It has lots of hiking up side canyons with amazing scenery and geology.

Camping: There's only one place you can camp in Leslie Gulch and that's the U.S Bureau of Land Management campground near Owyhee Reservoir. It has sunshades, picnic tables, fire rings and gravel pads. No water is available but the campground has a rest room.