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Baker City
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In the forested hills east of John Day, US-26 turns southeast for the long run down to Idaho. More enjoyable is the far shorter drive on Hwy-7 through the southern reaches of the
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
to red-brick
BAKER CITY
, a Gold Rush boomtown and now the commercial center for the surrounding cattle lands. The
Oregon Trail Interpretative Center
(daily: Apr-Oct 9am-6pm; Nov-Mar 9am-4pm; $5; tel 541/523-1843,
) at Flagstaff Hill, five well-signposted miles east of town, was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the trail in 1993. As well as audiovisual displays, the complex has around four miles of original trails featuring well-preserved wagon ruts and other points of interest. Back in town, the
Oregon Trail Regional Museum
, 2480 Grove St (Apr-Oct daily 9am-4pm; $3.50), has artifacts from pioneer days, but is most notable for its fine collection of rocks, petrified wood, and fluorescent geodes glowing under ultraviolet light.
Baker's Main Street has many handsome early twentieth-century buildings, but the bulk of the available
accommodation
is on the town periphery in routine motels along Tenth or Campbell: the
Quality Inn
, 810 Campbell St (tel 541/523-2242 or 1-800/228-5151,
; $50-75), and the
Welcome Inn
, 175 Campbell St (tel 541/523-3431; $50-75), are typical. The vast Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, stretching east and west of town, has many
campgrounds
; get details from the
visitors center
, 490 Campbell St, beside I-84's exit 304 (tel 541/523-3356 or 1-800/523-1235,
). Good
restaurants
include the cheap
Front Street Cafe
, 1840 Main St (tel 541/523-0223), and the solid pub fare at
Barley Brown's Brewpub
, 2190 Main St (tel 541/523-4266). Greyhound
buses
, 515 Campbell St, connect to Portland. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United States,
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