WALLOWAS + JOSEPH, OR
Adventure brief: Explore the “Swiss Alps” of Oregon.
The Wallowa Mountains and Eagle Cap wilderness are not conveniently located. This keeps the area off the radar for a lot of people and to be honest, is the reason we waited so long to adventure there. The drive east from Portland is roughly 6hrs and north from Boise is around 4hrs. Our visit was unplanned—one of the awesome things about the van is the ability to re-direct an itinerary—but ended up being a perfect 3 day adventure. Our route from the North Cascades took us down through Lake Chelan, WA—a continuation of what ended up being a three week van trip.
The town of Joseph, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Wallowa Lake, and some beautifully challenging trail running, hiking, and backcountry camping were just waiting to be discovered.
Heading east to Joseph, OR
HIGHLIGHTS:
Joseph, Oregon
Trail running/Hiking: Ice Lake, Hurricane Creek, Eagle Cap Wilderness
Hurricane Creek Camping
Joseph, Oregon is a town of around 2,000 people, nestled into the Wallowa mountain range and the perfect spot to base your adventures into the surrounding wilderness. Main street is exactly as you’d expect in a small western town. A stretch of quaint shops and a few good places to eat, you’ll also find the best place to stay in town, the Jennings Hotel. The Jennings also dishes up great pizzas and drinks and if we were not traveling in the van, would be my choice for lodging.
FOOD + DRINK SPOTS
Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, OR
Gold Room Pizza @ Jennings Hotel
Old Town Cafe on Main street
TRAIL RUNNING aDventures IN EAGLE CAP WILDERNESS
Ice Lake in the Eagle Cap Wilderness
Ice Lake Trail The most popular trail in the Eagle Cap Wilderness for a reason. We ran/shuffled the 14 mile round trip with Koda. You’ll find stunning backcountry camping along the lake as well as a few summits like the Matterhorn to explore.
Hurricane Creek Trail From the Hurricane Creek Trailhead [Parking for 10-12 cars + pit toilet] we ran this as an out and back for 8 miles to a few waterfalls.
We wrapped the run at Hurricane Creek Trailhead and noticed vans parked along the creek. There’s one official [non-reservable] campground in the area with 11 sites, all full. Being in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the spots along the creek are open for dispersed camping so we grabbed one. Ended up being the perfect location to read a book, do some laundry, and chill. We were traveling with our mountain bikes and decided to ride the 6 miles into Joseph for beers and dinner. The ride into town is all down hill, the ride back is not. Ugh.
Highly recommend a visit to this part of Eastern Oregon. The drive is long, there’s not much to do after dark, the wilderness is impressive. Go Adventure!
