Baker City Oregon. Baker City Oregon Real Estate. Northwest Oregon LivingThe historic town of Baker City sits at the base of the rugged Elkhorn Mountains on the old Oregon Trail. Established by emigrants traveling west during the 19th century, Baker City is best known for the role it played during the Oregon gold rush of the 1860s. The discovery of gold at nearby Powder River in 1861 transformed the small pioneer town of Baker to a seat of commerce almost over night. By the early 1900s, Baker City was considered the largest city between Salt Lake City and Portland and served as a major destination for thousands of west-bound travelers in search of a better, richer life.
If you are considering buying or selling property, planning to relocate, looking for Baker City Or homes for sale, or looking for any other information about real estate in Baker City Oregon, or the surrounding areas, you have come to the right place. You can also find a Baker City real estate agents, REALTOR or real estate broker to help you with you buy or sell a home, and find information about tacoma communities , schools, real estate market conditions, recreation and much more! Search the Baker City OR MLS for all home listings
Nowadays, Baker City gleans almost as much fame from its proximity to the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and surrounding national parks. Cradled between two sections of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and surrounded by numerous natural sights, Baker City offers an almost unlimited list of recreational opportunities to the traveler. The gorgeous Hells Canyon Byway juts into the Baker Valley as it descends from Flagstaff Hill, home of the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
The city has maintained much of its 19th century architecture and old world charm, and celebrates its early western history with a series of festivals throughout the year. Its Fall Festival acknowledges the area’s agricultural heritage with cook-offs and other events. The Miners’ Jubilee, in July, celebrates Baker City’s history as an early mining town. Numerous accommodations are available throughout the city, ranging from bed and breakfast inns to hotels and motels. Various campgrounds and RV parks are also available.
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is located at the northern tip of the Oregon-Idaho border. Comprising more than 600,000 acres of rugged, pristine wilderness and located in one of the most remote sections of the contiguous 48 states, it is a landscape that all but defies comparison. It is home to the deepest river chasm on the continent and three of North America’s Wild and Scenic rivers. It is characterized by some of the hottest summer temperatures and most forbidding winters in the Northwest. Even today, more than 100 years after the Nez Perce tribes were driven from the area in support of European settlement, the lands surrounding the NRA remain sparsely populated and roads remain in some places, little better than the wagon trails that were forged a century ago.
Straddling the Oregon-Idaho perimeter is the actual Hells Canyon, approximately 120 miles of basalt, limestone and granite canyon walls that have been scored by thousands of years of coursing water. In some places, the rock face towers as high as a mile above the Snake River, creating a chasm that would dwarf the highest rim of the Grand Canyon. Considered the largest tributary to the mighty Columbia River, the Snake is known throughout the world not only for its beauty and size, but its ideal river-rafting opportunities.
The Hells Canyon National Recreational Area offers spectacular opportunities for the adventurer who enjoys taking wilderness on its own terms. Visitors should be aware that there are limited roads in the NRA. Boaters should confirm their intended embarking/disembarking points before launching, as motor vehicles are permitted only in designated areas.
Hells Canyon Visitor Association. 800 Port Drive, Clarkston, WA 99403. Phone: 509-758-7489; Toll-free: 1-877-774-7248.
Hells Canyon Shuttle, Inc. Located at: Scotty's Hells Canyon Outdoor Supply, PO Box 149, Oxbow, OR 97840. Toll-free: 1-800-785-3358. E-mail
Museums and Exhibits
National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. 22267 Oregon Highway 86, P.O. Box 987, Baker City, Oregon 97814-0987. Phone: 541-523-1843; FAX: 541-523-1834. Email N 44,48.877; W 117,43.707.
The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is located five miles east of Baker City, Oregon, on Highway 86, Exit 302 from Interstate 84, 125 miles northwest of Boise, 95 miles southeast of Pendlelton.
The Oregon Trail Shop. Attn: Dept. W, PO Box 987, Baker City, OR 97814. Phone: 541-523-1844; FAX: 541-523-1855.
The Oregon Trail Shop, located inside the Interpretive Center (see above), offers a wide selection of merchandise: books, tapes and CDs, gifts and souvenirs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, educational items, and specialty reproduction items related to Oregon Trail history and the six themes presented in exhibits and programs at the Center. Operated by Trail Tenders, Inc., all proceeds are directed toward educational programs and projects at the Center.
Oregon Trail Regional Museum. 2480 Grove, Baker City, OR 97814. Phone: 541-523-9308.
Railroad Exhibits and Tours
Sumpter Valley Railroad. P.O. Box 389, Baker City, OR 97814-0389Phone: 541-894-2268; Toll Free: 866-894-2268; Fax: 541-894-2331. Email
