Recently our staff took a trip to Eastern Oregon along the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway and blogged about it.

Here is a little more love for Eastern Oregon’s fascinating cultural tourism, from our friend and partner Marc Scholnick of www.culturaloregon.com, who took a similar route, but spent more time in the area, visiting several Cultural Trust partner nonprofits and grantees. Read what he has to say here:

Oregon, with terrain that changes quickly but is always beautiful and interesting, has a special new road trip route that residents and visitors alike should make plans for.

It’s the “Journey Through Time” Oregon Scenic Byway and it is a wonderful example of an Eastern Oregon traveling experience that will stay with you for a long, long time! One of many Oregon Scenic Byways, it covers pioneer history, takes travelers through boom and bust towns, and visits terrain where dinosaurs once wandered.It’s a road adventure that showcases the best of authentic Oregon, covering 286 miles, beginning in the north central Oregon town of Biggs and ending in Eastern Oregon’s Baker City.Along the way, there are ghost towns, small farming and ranch towns that remind visitors of the “cowboy culture” of the old west.

The John Day River is the second longest free flowing river in North America. For great distances, it parallels the Journey Byway & amazes travelers, with its “white water caps” seemingly following your vehicle.

You can trek over the interpretative trails at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument that record the history of the area through fossils.There are recent historic markers, museums about the area and an interpretive center at the end, near Baker City, at the entrance to “Hells Canyon” that offers a remarkable look at Oregon pioneer life.

For more information and a map of the Journey through Time Byway, see www.culturaloregon.com 

Let’s get started!

Photo: Past Cultural Trust Grantee, the Sumpter Valley Dredge. By Marc Scholnick