6 Best Sights in Baker City, Eastern Oregon

The Baker Heritage Museum operates the nearby Adler House Museum, an 1889 Italianate house that was once home to an eccentric publishing magnate and philanthropist.

Located in a stately brick building that once housed the community's swimming pool, Baker's history center has one of the most impressive rock collections in the West. Assembled over a lifetime by a local amateur geologist, the Cavin-Warfel Collection includes thunder eggs, glowing phosphorescent rocks, and a 950-pound hunk of quartz. Other exhibits highlight pioneering, ranching, gold mining, and antique furniture.

In the tiny town of Haines, several miles north of Baker City, this humble museum almost resembles an antiques store or flea market at first glance, and has 10,000 household, farming, mining, and pioneer artifacts. Kids enjoy the one-room schoolhouse, as well as the 100-plus antique dolls and teddy bears. On the grounds is the old Union Pacific depot, built in the 1880s and given to the museum when the railroad discontinued stops at Haines in 1962.

This scenic 106-mile loop winds from Baker City through the Elkhorn Range of the Blue Mountains. Only white-bark pine can survive on the range's sharp ridges and peaks, which top 8,000 feet; spruce, larch, Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine thrive on the lower slopes. The route is well marked; start in Baker City on Highway 7, head west to Sumpter, turn onto County Road 24 toward Granite, turn north on Forest Road 73 and take that over Granite Pass and eventually by Anthony Lakes ski area to Haines, and then return to Baker City along U.S. 30.

Though the original track was scrapped in 1947, an all-volunteer workforce has rebuilt more than 7 miles of track on the railroad's original right-of-way. Today the train operates along a 5-mile route in Sumpter. The historic trains leave from the McEwen and Sumpter stations; check website for departure information and reservations. A few additional fall foliage runs and Christmas trains are offered in October and December respectively.

The 2.3-million-acre forest, found both east and west of Baker City, ranges in elevation from 875 feet in the Hells Canyon Wilderness to 9,845 feet in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. There are two other wilderness areas: Monument Rock and North Fork John Day.