The United States Congress designated the Oregon Badlands Wilderness in 2009 and it now has 29,180 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Oregon and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The Oregon Badlands Wilderness holds a number of remarkable and exciting landforms and geologic features. Most of the area includes the rugged Badlands volcano, which has features of inflated lava. Windblown volcanic ash and eroded lava make up the sandy, light-colored soil that covers the low and flat places in these fields of lava. Dry River, active during each of several ice ages, marks the southeast boundary between two volcanic areas—Badlands volcano and the Horse Ridge volcanoes.