Our Impressions of Baker City
Baker City is a small town in southeastern Oregon. It is in the high desert area of Oregon, with many irrigated areas for farming.
What a gem! We aren’t sure what we thought Baker City would be like, but after visiting, we were so glad we didn’t miss it! The downtown is thriving. It has nice wide streets with plenty of free parking. I don’t think there were any vacant buildings on the main street.
The people were all very friendly. Every store and restaurant we went into we were greeted warmly and were asked if there was anything they could do to help. We felt welcomed. That has certainly not happened in many of the towns we have visited!
The Sweet Wife Baking IN DOWNTOWN Baker City is a 20 on a scale of 1 – 10. It is not something to be missed!
What more could you ask for in a town? We will be back.
Attractions
No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement.
Leo Adler House on Main Street is only open on the weekends. Leo Adler (1895-1993) was born in Baker City. In 1905, at the age of nine, he started peddling magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies Home Journal. By the age of 20, he had created a major magazine distribution business. He retired at the age of 77 after developing a seven-state empire with over 2,000 outlets. He never married and never had children. During his life and upon his death, he donated generously to educational institutions, historical preservation groups including the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, medical facilities, regional development, health and welfare organizations and all religious denominations. Adler was an avid baseball fan, and he supported his beloved sport by providing funds for the construction of a baseball field in Baker City and generously contributing to the Baker City high school, Little League, and Babe Ruth programs.
Baker Heritage Museum is one of the nicest local museums we have visited. It is much bigger inside than it looks outside! It is filled with old farming and mining equipment, movie memorabilia, Airstream travel trailer history, a history of the contribution of the Chinese emigrants to the area and much, much more! The staff was helpful, informative and courteous. Plan on least 2-3 hours to explore everything. There was something for all ages to enjoy.
After visiting the Chinese exhibit at the Baker Heritage Museum, take a short 2-3 mile ride to the Chinese Cemetery. This is not a traditional cemetery, but more of a memorial area for those Chinese residents who died while living and working in Baker City. The Chinese were buried here from 1880 to 1940, until their remains were exhumed, purified and sent back to relatives in China.
Elkhorn Scenic Byway and the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and the Powder River. The Elkhorn Byway is actually 216 miles of scenic views of the mountains and the Powder River. It winds through the hills with the river also switching sides of the road! Drive all 216 miles or just a few. The drive is stunning.
Geiser Grand Hotel is a cornerstone of history in Baker City. It opened in 1889 and closed in 1968. The last guests in the hotel were the actors and staff of the movie Paint Your Wagon with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin. It received a restoration and reopened in 1993 and continues in operation. It was known as “the Queen of the Mines” during Gold Rush times. It had the third elevator built west of the Mississippi River!!
Salt Lick Art is part of the Great Salt Lick Contest and Art Auction. This event has been reoccurring since 2006 when Whit Deschner came up with the idea. Deschner realized the used salt blocks around his friend’s cabin bore a resemblance to abstract sculptures he’d seen sold for exorbitant amounts of money. He devised a plan to display, judge, and auction off the blocks to benefit Parkinson’s research. People leave the 50-pound blocks of salt outside, and the artists—horses, cows, deer, and goats—use their tongues to carve them into beautiful works of art. The best works are rewarded with cash prizes, ranging from about $50 to $150. Blocks at the auction can go for even higher sums; the current record is $1800. Art is displayed in the downtown park. The Great Salt Lick Art Auction happens the third Saturday in September in Baker City
The steam powered Sumpter Valley Railroad only operates every other weekend during the summer. Sadly, our time in Baker City did not coincide with the running of the train! However, LeAnne, the Depot manager, was kind enough to give us a private showing of the steam engine and museums in downtown Sumpter (population 210).
One of the places we visited with LeeAnne was the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area. The Sumpter Valley Dredge is also called #3. The dredge operated from 1935 to 1954, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, only closing on Christmas and one other day (which I can’t remember!). The dredge almost looks like a ship because when it digs around itself, it forms a lake, leaving piles of debris in its wake. It is estimated the dredge dug up more than $4 million in gold during its lifetime.
Downtown Baker City
No parking meters here! City officials in Baker City know how to encourage business for their thriving downtown! Between Main Street and Resort Street there are many shops, stores, restaurants, and businesses. There is a very nice park in the downtown area. Be sure to enjoy Powder River as it runs through town.
Food and Drink
Baker Truck Corral Restaurant is just what the name says, a truck stop restaurant. The service is quick. The food is good, plentiful and reasonably priced. How can you go wrong with a truck stop breakfast?
GC Asian Fusion Restaurant is located near the downtown area. We sat outside on the patio next to the Powder River. The food and service were good. We had plenty of food to bring home with us! It was really nice to enjoy the warm summer day watching the water and all of the people walking and hiking on the other side of the river.
The Sweet Wife Bakery and Café is phenomenal, awesome, excellent, yummmmm, how many other superlatives can be used to describe the pastries at the Sweet Wife? This is one of our top 10 bakeries in the whole country!!!!!!! We have NEVER had more moist scones!! The filled chocolate chip cookies and the bobkas are beyond words! Wow!
Home Base: The Campground
For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!
We stayed on site 122 at Mt View RV in Baker City. 30 and 50 amp service were available. The campground was clean and very well maintained. The woman who signed us in was very friendly and helpful. Our full hook up (water-sewer-electric) site was on level gravel. Our pull through site was long enough to leave the Jeep hooked up and still have both vehicles off the road. There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon) and a good open southern sky for our satellite. Easy off and on I-84.
We would definitely stay here again.
Fun Facts
Wally Byum, explorer, adventurer, and designer/founder of the Airstream travel trailer, was born in Baker City! There is a very nice exhibit at the Baker Heritage Museum about Wally Byum and Airstream travel trailers.
The 1969 movie Paint your Wagon with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin was filmed in Baker City! The actors and staff of the movie all stayed at the Geiser Grand Hotel.
Population: 10,170
Founded: 1874
Elevation: 3,451
Average income for a single person: $26,096
Average price of housing: $385,000
Median age of the population: 43
Website: https://www.bakercity.com/
Summary
We were pleasantly surprised by Baker City. We could easily see ourselves going back to eat more pastries at the Sweet Wife Bakery and Café and take a ride on the steam railroad. Baker City is well worth a stop!
Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!
Your partners in travel,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle
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