Wallowa Mountain Rambler
Elevation Chart
Turn-by-Turn Directions (show)
| Start east on OR-203 N/Medical Springs Hwy | 4 miles (6452 meters) |
| Turn right on OR-203 N/Medical Springs Hwy | 0.3 miles (445 meters) |
| Head northwest on OR-203 N/Medical Springs Hwy | 0.3 miles (445 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-203 N/Medical Springs Hwy | 12.7 miles (20367 meters) |
| Turn right on OR-203 N/Medical Springs Hwy | 82 feet (25 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-203 N/Medical Springs Hwy | 0.3 miles (478 meters) |
| Continue onto Telocaset Ln | 12 miles (19271 meters) |
| Turn right to stay on Telocaset Ln | 1.8 miles (2870 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-237 N/La Grande-Baker Hwy | 6.9 miles (11066 meters) |
| Turn right onto W Oregon St | 0.6 miles (990 meters) |
| Turn left onto S 3rd St | 0.6 miles (918 meters) |
| Turn right onto W Dearborn St | 269 feet (82 meters) |
| Turn left on N 2nd St | 0.2 miles (284 meters) |
| Head south on N 2nd St | 148 feet (45 meters) |
| Turn right onto W Arch St/Union Railroad of Oregon Continue to follow W Arch St |
0.4 miles (669 meters) |
| Turn right onto N 10th St | 0.5 miles (807 meters) |
| Turn left onto W Bryan St | 0.3 miles (406 meters) |
| Turn right onto Godley Rd | 0.7 miles (1183 meters) |
| Turn left onto OR-203 N/La Grande-Baker Hwy | 0.7 miles (1109 meters) |
| Turn right onto Godley Rd | 4.8 miles (7765 meters) |
| Turn left onto Gekeler Ln | 0.8 miles (1352 meters) |
| Continue onto Red Pepper Rd | 1.5 miles (2444 meters) |
| Turn left onto OR-237 N/Cove Hwy | 0.3 miles (415 meters) |
| Turn right onto Carter Rd/Carter Ln | 2.2 miles (3589 meters) |
| Turn left onto Booth Ln | 0.5 miles (824 meters) |
| Turn right onto Ruckman Rd | 4 miles (6386 meters) |
| Turn left onto Alicel Ln | 0.5 miles (801 meters) |
| Turn right onto Speckhart Rd | 1 miles (1612 meters) |
| Turn right onto Imbler Rd | 3.2 miles (5191 meters) |
| Turn right onto Railroad Ave | 184 feet (56 meters) |
| Turn right onto Lonepine Ave | 0.3 miles (474 meters) |
| Turn right onto Striker Ln | 243 feet (74 meters) |
| Turn left toward OR-82 E | 420 feet (128 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-82 E | 7.4 miles (11938 meters) |
| Continue east on Division St | 0.1 miles (184 meters) |
| Turn left onto N 8th Ave | 253 feet (77 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-82 E/Albany St/Wallowa Lake Hwy Continue to follow OR-82 E/Wallowa Lake Hwy |
22.8 miles (36724 meters) |
| Turn right onto Lwr Diamond Ln | 0.4 miles (603 meters) |
| Continue onto Upper Diamond Ln | 0.2 miles (379 meters) |
| Turn left to stay on Lower Diamond Ln | 2.5 miles (4024 meters) |
| Turn right onto N Bear Creek Rd | 0.3 miles (409 meters) |
| Turn left onto W 1st St | 0.4 miles (592 meters) |
| Turn right onto S Douglas St | 135 feet (41 meters) |
| Turn left toward S Pine St | 0.3 miles (517 meters) |
| Turn left onto S Pine St | 164 feet (50 meters) |
| Turn right on E 1st St | 59 feet (18 meters) |
| Head west on E 1st St | 59 feet (18 meters) |
| Turn right onto N Pine St | 308 feet (94 meters) |
| Turn right onto E 2nd St | 0.2 miles (370 meters) |
| Turn left onto E 1st St | 285 feet (87 meters) |
| Continue onto Whiskey Creek Rd | 1.5 miles (2482 meters) |
| Turn right to stay on Jim Town Rd | 6.6 miles (10569 meters) |
| Turn left onto Evans Rd | 0.4 miles (647 meters) |
| Turn left onto School Flat Ln | 0.2 miles (317 meters) |
| Turn right onto Wade Gulch Ln | 8 miles (12800 meters) |
| Continue onto Golf Course Rd | 1.3 miles (2154 meters) |
| Turn left onto W North St | 0.1 miles (223 meters) |
| Turn right onto NW Arthur St | 272 feet (83 meters) |
| Turn left toward SW Depot St | 0.1 miles (209 meters) |
| Turn right onto SW Depot St | 164 feet (50 meters) |
| Turn left on E Main St | 0.2 miles (326 meters) |
| Head west on E Main St | 105 feet (32 meters) |
| Turn right onto Hurricane Creek Rd/S River St Continue to follow Hurricane Creek Rd |
1 miles (1677 meters) |
| Turn left onto Green Valley Rd | 1.6 miles (2529 meters) |
| Turn left onto Eggleson Ln | 354 feet (108 meters) |
| Turn right onto Williamson Rd/Williamson Ln | 1 miles (1635 meters) |
| Continue onto Dorrance Rd | 0.5 miles (849 meters) |
| Turn left onto Dorrance Rd/McClaren Ln | 1 miles (1659 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-82 E/Joseph Hwy/Wallowa Lake Hwy Continue to follow OR-82 E/Wallowa Lake Hwy |
1.1 miles (1694 meters) |
| Turn left toward N Lake St | 348 feet (106 meters) |
| Turn right onto N Lake St | 0.5 miles (736 meters) |
| Turn right on E Mc Cully St | 154 feet (47 meters) |
| Head east on E Mc Cully St | 505 feet (154 meters) |
| Turn left onto N College St | 351 feet (107 meters) |
| Turn right onto E Joseph Ave | 331 feet (101 meters) |
| Turn left onto N East St | 358 feet (109 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-350 E/E Wallowa Ave Continue to follow OR-350 E |
6.6 miles (10546 meters) |
| Turn left on OR-350 E/Imnaha Hwy | 0.3 miles (403 meters) |
| Head west on OR-350 E/Imnaha Hwy | 0.3 miles (403 meters) |
| Turn left onto OR-350 E/Imnaha Hwy | 1.3 miles (2115 meters) |
| Slight right onto National Forest Development Rd | 8.6 miles (13871 meters) |
| National Forest Development Rd turns slightly right and becomes Nat for Dev Rd 39/Wallowa Mountain Loop | 4.6 miles (7367 meters) |
| Slight right onto Lower Lick Rd/Nat for Dev Rd 140 | 2.2 miles (3535 meters) |
| Continue onto Coverdale Rd/Nat for Dev Rd 3925 | 7.1 miles (11448 meters) |
| Turn right to stay on Coverdale Rd/Nat for Dev Rd 3925 | 2.1 miles (3420 meters) |
| Turn right onto Nat for Dev Rd 39/Wallowa Mountain Loop Continue to follow Wallowa Mountain Loop |
12.7 miles (20483 meters) |
| Wallowa Mountain Loop turns slightly left and becomes Nat for Dev Rd 39/N Pine Rd Continue to follow N Pine Rd |
14.3 miles (22959 meters) |
| Slight right onto OR-86 W | 7.3 miles (11702 meters) |
| Turn left onto Gulick Rd | 1.3 miles (2017 meters) |
| Turn right onto Pine Town Ln | 0.9 miles (1449 meters) |
| Turn right to stay on Pine Town Ln | 1 miles (1574 meters) |
| Continue onto OR-86 W | 1.2 miles (1875 meters) |
| Turn left onto NFD Road 77 Rd | 2.7 miles (4302 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-86 W | 5.8 miles (9305 meters) |
| Turn left on OR-86 W | 0.1 miles (231 meters) |
| Turn left onto OR-86 W | 1.1 miles (1770 meters) |
| Turn right onto New Bridge Rd | 0.5 miles (749 meters) |
| Turn left onto Sawmill Ln | 0.8 miles (1266 meters) |
| Turn left onto Old Foothill Rd | 0.2 miles (262 meters) |
| Turn right onto Whitnah Ln | 1.3 miles (2161 meters) |
| Turn right onto OR-86 W | 33.2 miles (53503 meters) |
| Turn right onto Sunny Slope Rd | 3 miles (4761 meters) |
| Turn left onto Lee Ln | 1.2 miles (2000 meters) |
| Turn right onto Lindley Rd | 1 miles (1634 meters) |
This is possibly the premier loop tour in all of Oregon, an epic adventure that includes a wide variety of topography and scenery, charming small towns and long stretches of wide-open spaces. There are several ways to approach this trip, and it can be done in as little as three (long) days, or comfortably in five, or leisurely in a week. It can be ridden as a clockwise or counter-clockwise loop, and can be started from any number of towns along the way. Two suggested itineraries follow; the elevation profile shown is for the second itinerary.
For more information, please contact the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce.
Motorized Vehicle Traffic: Light to Moderate
Season: Summer
Counter-clockwise, four days, lodging
Day 1: Stay at the Union Hotel in the sleepy hamlet of Union, then start off toward Baker City by following bucolic Catherine Creek. Rollers through wide-open rangeland take you into Baker City for lunch. From Baker City, head east and through the Powder River Canyon to Richland, after which there’s a grueling five-mile climb and an equally steep descent into Halfway. Stay at the rustic but luxurious Pine Valley Lodge for two nights. Daily mileage: 98.
Day 2: Take a side trip into Hells Canyon. After 17 miles down to the canyon, cross into Idaho and take the twisty road that follows the Snake River to road’s end at the Hells Canyon Dam, in rugged isolation at the bottom of North America’s deepest canyon. Then turn around and head back to Halfway. Daily mileage: 80.
Day 3: This is the challenge day. From Halfway, head back toward the Snake River, but after 10 miles turn left for the ascent over the eastern flank of the Wallowa Mountains. There are three major climbs, each paid off by a great descent, plus a near-mandatory side trip to the Hells Canyon Overlook (three more miles of climb, but easily worth it). Emerge into the picturesque Wallowa Valley and stay in the quaint town of Joseph. Today’s mileage: 77 (7,000+ feet of climb).
Day 4: From Joseph, cruise downhill for 40 miles through Enterprise, Lostine and Wallowa, then climb up the Minam Grade and roll into Elgin. From there it’s virtually flat riding through lush agricultural landscape back to Union. Mileage: 90.
Clockwise, six days, camping
DAY 1: Leave Baker City along the Medical Springs Highway. The landscape will dramatically change from sagebrush and tumbleweeds to forested hills as you climb onto the western flank of the Wallowa Mountains. After passing through the historic hamlet of Pondosa, ride through Medical Springs on the way to Catherine Creek State Park and a forested campground along the shores of this cascading stream. Today’s mileage is 36 miles.
DAY 2: Today, pass through the quiet western town of Union on the way to the Grande Ronde Valley, riding along vast fields of grain through this fertile valley. Leave the Grande Ronde Valley and climb onto a northern flank of the Wallowa Mountains. You’ll be rewarded with expansive views in all directions. From here, descend to a campsite nestled along the shore of the Wallowa River. Today’s mileage is 60.
DAY 3: Today, follow the Wallowa River to its headwaters. Panoramic views of the snow capped Wallowa Mountains dominate the southern skyline. After passing through Joseph, climb over an ancient glacial moraine to the headwaters of the Wallowa River at Wallowa Lake. The view from here is spectacular! The south shore of this glacially formed lake offers a great campground. If you’re feeling adventurous, take a hike to an alpine lake in the Wallowa Mountains or explore nearby Joseph. Looking for a less energetic option? Take a gondola to the top of Mount Howard (8,256 ft). Today’s mileage: 46 miles.
DAY 4: Leave Wallowa Lake for some of the wildest country in Oregon. Cross two mountain passes on the eastern flank of the Wallowa Mountains as you ride to a campsite at Ollokot Campground along the rushing waters of the Imnaha River. You’re now a short distance from the rim of Hells Canyon. Today’s mileage is 44.
DAY 5: Today you ride to the rim of Hells Canyon. From this overlook you gain an appreciation of the incredible magnitude of this canyon that forms the border between Oregon and Idaho. Hells Canyon plunges more than a mile from the rim on the Oregon side and over 8,000 ft. from the lofty Seven Devils Mountains on the Idaho side. After a little more climbing, begin a long, long decent. After this long downhill there’s a little climbing to get to the campsite in Richland. You’re now on the south side of the Wallowa Mountains. Today’s mileage is 46.
DAY 6: On the final day of this spectacular tour, follow the Powder River through narrow canyons and wide-open pastures back to Baker City. Today’s route is 42 miles.
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