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This road trip loop takes you through little-visited northeast Oregon by way of the 208-mile Hells Canyon Scenic Byway — a combination of state highways and paved forest service roads. Besides Hells Canyon (which is more than 1,000 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon), the highlights include the Oregon Trail and Wallowa Mountains. Along the way, make stops at artsy and authentic small towns and learn about the region’s original inhabitants, the Nez Perce. Snow closes a portion of this byway from late October through early June, so it’s best to drive it between mid-June and mid-October.
You’ll start and end in Baker City, which is about a two-hour drive from Boise, Idaho.
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![The Wagon Encampment at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Baker, Oregon The Wagon Encampment at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Baker, Oregon](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/travel/vacation-ideas/road-trips/info-2022/northeast-oregon/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_travel_main_body/container_travel_body/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par2/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/travel/road-trips/2022/04/1140-oregon-day-1.jpg)
Day 1: Baker City, Oregon, to Halfway, Oregon (55 miles)
Start your day in this former gold mining town (population: about 9,700) with biscuits and gravy at Sweet Wife Bakery’s on Main Street. Then walk off the calories wandering through downtown, where more than 100 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Three not to miss: the Gothic St. Francis de Sales Cathedral (finished in 1908 and built using volcanic tuff quarried locally), the Italianate-style Adler House Museum (open for tours between Memorial Day and Labor Day), and the Baker Municipal Natatorium (built in 1920), home to the Baker Heritage Museum (the ballroom still has its original hardwood floors).
![a road map with hit the road written on it a road map with hit the road written on it](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/travel/vacation-ideas/road-trips/info-2022/northeast-oregon/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_travel_main_body/container_travel_body/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par4/body_one_callout_one/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/travel/road-trips/2022/04/1140x600-hit-the-road.jpg)
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Before leaving town, grab lunch at the Cheese Fairy, where owner Cody Cook serves up cheese plates showcasing artisan cheeses from around the world. Cap off your meal next door in the tasting room for Copper Belt Winery, owned by Cody’s brother, Travis. You’ll be sampling wine made from grapes grown on land homesteaded by the siblings’ great grandfather, who was born in the area in 1895 to Oregon Trail pioneers.
Head east out of the city on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway (this section, Oregon Highway 86). Eleven miles from downtown, the byway intersects the Oregon Trail, which is still visible today because of the deep ruts worn into the sere sagebrush landscape by the hundreds of thousands of wagons that traveled the trail in the 1800s. Here, the National Historical Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is temporarily closed for renovations, but the 500-acre site’s 4 miles of walking trails (more than half paved) remain open.
From the Oregon Trail ruts, it’s all downhill, literally, with the byway descending about 2,000 feet to Halfway. The landscape is initially barren with dry wash, but gradually becomes verdant fields of mint, turf grass and barley, among others.
Where to stay: Check in for two nights at Halfway’s Pine Valley Lodge, which has four separate lodging options, all as intimate as they are rustic and eclectic: the log Main Lodge, with three guest rooms and a wraparound porch; the clapboard Blue Dog Cottage and Yellow House, each with four guest rooms; and Main Place, with 11 rooms including a two-bedroom/two-bath suite with a kitchen.