8 Best Sights in Joseph, Eastern Oregon

At more than 360,000 acres, this is the largest wilderness area in Oregon, encompassing most of the Wallowa range with 535 miles of trails for hardcore backpackers and horseback riders. Most of the popular trailheads are along Eagle Cap's northern edge, accessible from Enterprise or Joseph, but you also can find several trailheads 20 to 30 miles southeast of La Grande along Route 203. Some areas of the wilderness are accessible year-round, while the high-elevation areas are accessible only for a few months in summer. To hike into the wilderness, you also need to obtain a free permit that will alert rangers of your plans.

This impressive gallery displays sculptures by the many artists who cast their work at the nearby foundry, plus quite a few international pieces. The foundry itself is a half mile away at 307 W. Alder St. Foundry tours are available weekdays by reservation.

On the south shore of beautiful Wallowa Lake, just a 10-minute drive south of downtown Joseph, this alpine park with a highly popular campground is surrounded on three sides by 9,000-foot-tall snowcapped mountains. Popular activities include fishing and powerboating on the lake, plus hiking wilderness trails, horseback riding, and canoeing. Nearby are a marina, bumper boats, miniature golf, and the tramway to the top of Mt. Howard.

This is a relatively easy way to take in the natural splendor of the Eagle Cap Wilderness and reach Baker City without backtracking to La Grande. The loop is a segment of the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway, which continues for a three-and-a-half hour trip from Joseph to Baker City. It winds through the national forest and part of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, passing over forested mountains, creeks, and rivers. Before you travel the byway, check with the Forest Service about road conditions; the route can be impassable when snowed over. From Joseph, take Highway 350 east for 8 miles, turn south onto Forest Service Road 39, and continue until it meets Highway 86, which winds past the town of Halfway and then continues to Baker City.

Forming a rugged U-shaped fortress between Hells Canyon on the Idaho border and the Blue Mountains, the Wallowas are sometimes called the Alps of Oregon or Little Switzerland. The granite peaks in this range are between 5,000 and 9,000 feet in height. Dotted with crystalline alpine lakes and meadows, rushing rivers, and thickly forested valleys that fall between the mountain ridges, the Wallowas have a grandeur that can take your breath away. Bighorn sheep, elk, deer, and mountain goats populate the area. Nearly all the trails in the Wallowa Mountains are at least partially contained within the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The offices and visitor center for the mountains are in Joseph at the Wallowa Mountains ranger office of Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, but you can access different parts of the range from different towns in the region, including Enterprise, La Grande, and Baker City.

More than just a cluster of produce tents, Joseph's Saturday farmers' markets are the social hub of the community. Grab groceries or treats from rows of veggie vendors, specialty-food producers, and sustainable-cattle ranchers, then hang around for live outdoor music and bronze-sculpture street art.

Joseph's history museum has a small but poignant collection of artifacts and photographs chronicling the flight of the Nez Percé, a series of battles against the U.S. Army that took place in the late 1870s. Built as a bank in 1888, the building was robbed in 1896, an event commemorated by a number of the museum's artifacts, including a massive old safe and some yellowing newspaper accounts.

The steepest tram in North America rises 3,700 feet in 15 minutes, rushing you up to the top of 8,150-foot Mt. Howard. Vistas of mountain peaks, forest, and Wallowa Lake far below will dazzle you, both on the way up and at the summit. Early and late in the season, 2½ miles of cross-country skiing trails await at the top, and the interpretive trails are open for hiking during the snowless months of midsummer, as are mountain-bike trails. A casual lunch is available at the Summit Grill, but keep in mind that it's more about the view than the sometimes uneven food and service.