Hell's Canyon, Wallowa Mountains
 

Planning to travel to the Wallowa Mountains and Hell's Canyon this summer for two weeks. We will fly in, what is the best destination airport for these locations, rent a car and stay in hotels, b+b's, cabins? We will have our 13 yr. old son with us. Any input or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

The closest airport of any size is Boise, ID. La Grande, OR is closer, but I don't know what kind of flight connections you'ld get to there. It is definately a small town. Joseph,OR is the closest town to the Wallowas where there are tourist facilities. Take a look at Moriah.com for B&B suggestions. As I recall the town has a web site as well which would list lodging options. The Wallowas and Hell's Canyon are wonderful vacation destinations, but they are truly remote if you need big city accomodations. Hat Point on the Oregon side of Hell's CAnyon is beautiful, but the road (unless they have improved it in the last few years) is a fairly rugged drive. If you want to get to the Idaho side of Hell's Canyon it is quite a long drive from the Wallowas. Look at a map and notice the scarcity of roads in that area. But don't get discouraged because this is one of the most magnificent scenic areas in the country, relatively unspoiled, and well worth the effort.

The Wallowas are beautiful,like the alps. Be sure to take the tram to the top. There is a historic inn at the lake and also cabins. Interprise is the closest town that would have motels. It is a small, one main street,town that has a lot of western art.I would fly into Portland and drive to the Wallowa area. This is at the least a days drive. If you stop on the way longer. Places of interest. Columbia River Gorge, The Dalles, Baker City (Oregon Trail Interpertive Center). Going this way you go through the Blue Mts. which are also beautiful. Hells Canyon is about 100 mls south of The Dalles. This could be a side trip with you returning to the Dalles or you could continue on south to Redmond and take highway 26 to Baker City (quite a long drive on 2 way road most of it scenic.) It would be best to get a map of OR so you could get driving distances. Hope theis helps. Barb

Sorry Glenda is right Joseph is the closet town. I got it mixed up with Enterprise which is larger and not to far away. We were at Hells canyon this year and the roads were fine.

I'm not sure what area Barb is thinking about, but Hell's Canyon is the canyon of the Snake River between Oregon and Idaho. It is a long way from the Dalles. The trip to the Wallowas from Portland is well worth the time and flying into PDX may be your cheapest option even with the long drive, but Boise is the closest major airport.

Check Lewiston. It is much closer than Boise and is served by Horizon Airlines.

Thanks Glenda and Barb, I'm doing alot more surfing today and trying to pull things together. Do you know the name of the inn on the lake Barb or what city that might be listed under? Any experience with staying at Halfway,OR? What about Pine Valley Lodge? We love OR. We've spent the past three summers at Black Butte Ranch, near Sisters, but wanted to head east a bit.

The lodge in the lake is Wallowa Lake Lodge. Look at website wallowalake.net/Lodgingpage.html<BR>Joseph is the town.

Planning a very similiar trip this summer. We are going to rent a motorhome (our first time renting). Have you considered this? In Eastern Oregon it would give you much more flexibility, the hotels/motels/B&Bs can be few and far between. You don't have to stay in it the whole time either if you do find a place you want to stay. Just park it like a car. There are rental places in Portland where you could fly into. They also have one-way options where you could pick it up in Portland and drop in Boise if you want to save the drive time. Just an idea. <BR><BR>As I recall Joseph is beautiful and the mountains spetacular. While Baker City isn't necessarily close there is a great Oregon Trail museum there if you have time.<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip it is beautiful out there!

I just wanted to add to this thread. My husband grew up in Joseph and we were there 3 weeks last June/July after his father passed away. We flew into Portland and drove east to Joseph. The 6 hour drive was really nice, with great contrasts between the Columbia Gorge, the desert that becomes the Dalles and rising up through the mountains once out of Pendleton. I think the eastern part of Oregon is a piece of heaven on earth, I swear I have never seen beautiful, unspoiled scenery as Hell's Canyon. My husband was very much against driving through Hell's Canyon as he remembered it as an unpaved logger's road, but that has changed dramatically. We drove from Joseph to the Snake River in about 2 1/2 hours (longer if you get behind a large truck or camper). The view from Hat Point is spectacular, reminded me alot of the Grand Canyon, I could have looked out at it all day! It would be a great place to camp, I remember seeing alot of camping sites.<BR>Joseph is a great little town; the town has gone through extensive renovations in the last few years and is really very charming. Chief Joseph Days' Rodeo is the last full weekend in July, lots of fun for kids. There is a outfitter called Hurricane Creek Llama Treks that offers tours around the Wallowa Mountains, never used them but it sounds intriguing. If you drive back to Portland, go back through Tollgate on the way to Pendleton. Again, beautiful scenery, maybe 1/2 hour longer than taking 82 back through LaGrande.

I just wanted to add to this thread. My husband grew up in Joseph and we were there 3 weeks last June/July after his father passed away. We flew into Portland and drove east to Joseph. The 6 hour drive was really nice, with great contrasts between the Columbia Gorge, the desert that becomes the Dalles and rising up through the mountains once out of Pendleton. I think the eastern part of Oregon is a piece of heaven on earth, I swear I have never seen beautiful, unspoiled scenery as Hell's Canyon. My husband was very much against driving through Hell's Canyon as he remembered it as an unpaved logger's road, but that has changed dramatically. We drove from Joseph to the Snake River in about 2 1/2 hours (longer if you get behind a large truck or camper). The view from Hat Point is spectacular, reminded me alot of the Grand Canyon, I could have looked out at it all day! It would be a great place to camp, I remember seeing alot of camping sites.<BR>Joseph is a great little town; the town has gone through extensive renovations in the last few years and is really very charming. Chief Joseph Days' Rodeo is the last full weekend in July, lots of fun for kids. There is a outfitter called Hurricane Creek Llama Treks that offers tours around the Wallowa Mountains, never used them but it sounds intriguing. If you drive back to Portland, go back through Tollgate on the way to Pendleton. Again, beautiful scenery, maybe 1/2 hour longer than taking 82 back through LaGrande. Hope you have a wonderful time in the Wallowa Mountains- they are difficult to reach, but well worth it.

Is there anyplace to kayak in that area? I'm not talking about risk-your-life-whitewater, but slower rivers or lakes? Any lakes where motor boats don't dominate? Thanks!!