This content chronicles a journey along Oregon's Highway 395, exploring its reputation as the state's "loneliest road" by highlighting its remote landscapes, sparse population, unique historical anecdotes, and natural wonders.
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Hey everyone, welcome to Sidetrack
Adventures. This is Steve. We are
crossing into Oregon and a few years
ago, the Oregon Department of
Transportation did a study and found
that Highway 395 is the least traveled
highway in Oregon. So over the next few
days, we plan to explore Highway 395
from here to Washington and see what
Oregon's loneliest road has to offer. Here
Here
is the welcome to California sign, but
if we turn around, there's no Oregon
sign here. And that brings up a somewhat
because of a surveying error. This is
The 42nd parallel was set as the
southern boundary of Oregon back in 1819
in a treaty with Spain. California was
part of the Spanish Empire at the time.
When a survey was done in 1868, an error
of about a half mile caused part of New
Pine Creek to be placed in Oregon.
The error wasn't discovered until the
1980s, though, and while the states did
have talks on it, nothing was changed.
The Oregon citizens of New Pine Creek
really didn't want to be moved into California.
California.
The Oregon part of town has a population
of 111, while the California part has a
population of 87.
Also, because of the error, despite
being on the state line, New Pine Creek,
California, is not the northernmost town
But let's say goodbye to California and
Highway 395 stretches 389 miles across
Oregon, giving the state the second
longest portion of the route after California.
California.
Along the way, it cuts through some of
the most remote and sparsely populated
The part of Oregon we're going to be
traveling through features high desert
plateaus, volcanic peaks on the horizon,
rivers cutting through wide valleys, and
towns so small they can almost slip past
Of course, after saying that, with a
population of less than 2500, we are now
approaching the biggest town we'll come
We are now entering the town of Lake
View, which is nicknamed the tallest
town in Oregon, as it sits at an
elevation of 4,82 ft.
ft.
In 1869, a man named MW Bullard settled
here at the northern end of the Goose
Lake Valley, and his settlement became
the town of Lake View, officially taking
Across the street is the Oddfellow's
building. This dates back to 1911, and
the upper floor used to be a lodge hall,
but now the building is occupied by a church.
Native Americans occupied this area
around Lake View as early as 14,000
years ago, but the modern history of the
town began in the 1860s when the army
created a camp in the area during what
was known as the Snake War.
And I'm not sure what these bells are
for. There's no sign or marker for them,
but it looks like they were made in
But the Snake War was a conflict between
local Native American tribes and
And this is the Lake County Veterans Memorial.
Memorial.
The plaque on the front here honors Lake
County residents killed in World War I
And this side honors residents killed in
And this side, the more recent Gulf Wars.
Across the street is the Alier Theater,
built in 1940. I'm not sure if movies
And here's an old wagon, one that they
This is the Harryford building. This was
built in 1913, and the second floor was
once the meeting space for the Elks Club.
Club.
On May 22nd, 1900, there was a fire that
burned down most of the town. There were
no deaths, but 64 buildings were destroyed.
Nowadays, the town does have the
toughest Safeway grocery store around, though.
We are a little bit north of town now at
a place called Hunter Hot Springs, the
And I'm not exactly sure where the
geyser is, but this claims to be
Oregon's only geyser and also the only
Apparently, it can shoot 200° water over
60 ft into the air. So, I don't think
we'll miss it. But even if we do, it's
supposed to go off every 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
minutes.
There's a sign up ahead, so we have to
be going the right way.
Now, this is a real geyser, but it
didn't first appear naturally. They
tried drilling a well here in 1923,
Though, I guess in drought years, it
doesn't go off as often and could go
weeks without an eruption. So, let's
hope it's back on the 92nd schedule.
Otherwise, we're going to be walking
So, this should be it right in front of us.
us.
Right where that thing is sticking out
Of course, with our luck, it might be
over here, and we'll be facing the wrong
way when it goes off, but I think it
All right, we're waiting for this thing
to go off again. When I read that it
shoots 60 ft into the air, I was
expecting a little bit more than what we got.
got.
I mean, I wasn't expecting Old Faithful,
but maybe something a little more impressive.
impressive.
But I guess when you're the only geyser
So that was Old Perpetual. Apparently
Oregon's only geyser. And I'd say it's
worth 5 minutes of your time if you're
Part of Highway 395 in California, where
it used to overlap Highway 6, is
designated as the Grand Army of the
Republic Highway, honoring Union Civil
War veterans.
Well, the entire length of Highway 395
in Oregon was dedicated as the World War
The reputation of Highway 395 through
here being Oregon's loneliest road is
welld deserved. It's said that on
average only about 400 cars per day in
total travel on the highway in the
section between Lake View and Burns, a
We are now approaching what may be one
of the most incredible sites on the highway,
highway,
not just in Oregon, but along the entire
Lake Abert is a shallow lake that is
left over from a much larger lake that
was around during the last ice age.
Despite its size, something like 15 mi
long and 7 mi wide, it's only 11 ft deep
Because the lake has no outflow, the
water is very saline and alkaline.
Fish can't survive in these conditions,
but brine shrimp thrive, making this a
But as cool as this lake is, if we just
take a look to our right, there's
something even more incredible. This is
At 2,490
ft above us, this is one of the highest
fault scarps in the United States and it
is also the longest exposed fault scarp
in North America.
The top 800 ft or so is a sheer basalt cliff
with the abert rim on your side like
this. The road through here almost makes
you feel like you're on the coast.
I'm not even sure the camera does it
Looking up at the Abert Rim, there are
quite a few basalt boulders everywhere
and some of them are pretty large.
Let's cross the road real quick. We'll
keep our eyes out for cars, but I don't
think we've seen one pass by since we've stopped.
And quite a few massive boulders all the
way down here, too. Every so often, one
We'll be driving alongside the lake for
Both the rim and the lake were named in
1843 during the Fremont expedition
through the area for Colonel John James
The first two counties in Oregon that
we're passing through, Lake County and
Harney County, have a combined
population of about 15,000 people.
Harney County is the 10th largest county
in the United States by area, but has
only a little over 7,000 people, about
3/4s of a person per square mile.
In this area, cattle outnumber people 14
to1. And to be honest, we haven't even
Since this area is signed as open range,
if you happen to hit a cow in the road,
you'll be charged for it. And it's not
cheap either. I guess you can say the
I suspect that when most people think of
the Great Basin, Oregon probably isn't
the first thing that comes to mind, but
about a quarter of the state lies within it.
We've just stopped at the Northern Great
This experimental range is over 16,000
acres in size and is run by Oregon State
University and the United States
Out here they test different livestock
practices, things like how livestock
grazing interacts with the desert
environment of eastern Oregon and also
things like receding practices and soil stability.
That is important work and all, but
really I just stopped here to admire
this wide open landscape.
If it wasn't for the highway and a few
dirt roads, you'd hardly know anyone had
Twothirds of Oregon is east of the
Cascade Range and because of that it's
in what's called a rain shadow, meaning
it gets very little rain, only about 12
in a year.
As we start to get closer to burns, we
are starting to see a few more trees
though, and tomorrow the landscape is
going to change dramatically.
But I don't think the number of cars on
This might be the first billboard we've
After about 130 mi with almost no towns
and very few other cars, we've arrived
in Burns, which is pretty much a major
outpost in the middle of nowhere.
With about 2,700 people, it doesn't
sound like much, but out here, this is
We are walking through downtown on
Broadway Avenue, which is also Highway 395.
395.
And this building dates back to the
1890s. The last digit is missing, so I
don't know the exact year.
Some towns have historical plaques on
the buildings giving more information,
but it doesn't look like Burns does.
Even here in downtown, there isn't that
many cars on the road.
Burns was established in the 1880s and
was named after the Scottish poet Robert
Burns. Like so many towns out here, it
grew up around cattle ranching.
By the 1920s, lumber was the big
industry, and I know that is pretty
surprising from the terrain we've seen
so far, but as we'll see later, there is
I think this is the most cars I've seen
I really love walking around downtowns
and these small towns because there is
just so much personality.
When you imagine a classic American
small town, these towns still look like that.
Across the street is the Federal
This is the Palace Cafe and Lounge,
built in 1930. And we actually ate
dinner at the taco truck in their
And this is the Desert Theater, built in
1949. And as always, I'm glad to see
And this is the historic Central Hotel
built in 1929
And since there's no one else around
right now, let's do a quick tour of the
hotel. I'm trying to avoid filming other guests,
guests,
but this is pretty cool. They have a
calendar here that's still set on
And this is the lobby area. There's no
attendant on duty. They send you a code
by email that you use to access the
rooms. You don't need these keys.
And I thought that was pretty futuristic
for a hotel built in 1929. Now, there
are no elevators here since this is an
old hotel. You do have to take the stairs.
stairs.
And we have a skylight here letting in
natural light.
And even though this is an old hotel,
unlike a lot of similar places, I
haven't heard any ghost stories about
this place. No legends about it being
And this is our room here. They don't
have room numbers. Our room is Swanky Digs.
And instead of a key, we have a code to
get into the room. So, I'll punch in the
And this is our room for the night.
So, the hotel was originally built in
1929, but it was purchased by the Kiti
family in 2016 after it had been sitting
empty for over 20 years. And they
completely renovated the place, and I
think it looks amazing.
We paid $169 for the room, and we picked
this room because it had a private
bathroom. Some of the rooms don't. When
the hotel was built, it only had two
toilets and two bathtubs.
And can you imagine being the last
person of the night to use the bathtub?
These days, seven of the 12 rooms have
their own bathroom.
And here is our view.
We'll have to take a look at this at
It is awesome to see this neon lit up,
but it's time for us to head to bed so
Okay, so now it's the next day and we
had a great sleep at the historic
Central Hotel. If you're ever in Burns,
Oregon, I highly recommend this place.
But now it's time for us to continue
north on what is supposed to be the
least traveled highway in Oregon. Though
I don't know how much less traveled you
can get than the section we were on yesterday.
We are now in Divine Canyon and this is
what's left of the Divine Monument that
was put up here in 1928.
It used to include a water fountain and
was much taller, but time has taken its toll.
This canyon was named for a pioneer
cattle rancher named John Estavine. He
had lived in the area from 1868 until
We've gone from the open range to a
forest of ponderosa pines. Now we are
currently traveling through the Malhir
National Forest, but we will be back on
I have to say the scenery in this part
of Oregon is incredible. And with so few
other cars out here, this is an amazing
drive. We've driven Highway 50 through
Nevada, which is nicknamed the loneliest
road in America. And so far, we've seen
This is Senica, which is often listed as
one of the coldest places in Oregon.
The state's record low temperature of
The town's not very big. You blink and
you miss it as you're driving through,
but I did notice this Bear Valley
Historical Park, so I figured we'd take
a look around.
This town was founded in 1895,
and the postmaster named it for her
brother-in-law, who was a prominent
Portland judge, Senica Smith.
And there really isn't much to this
Well, there's at least one other visitor here.
And some horses, too.
In the 1920s, this was the northern
terminus for the Oregon and Northwestern
Railroad, which was owned by the Hines
Lumber Company. Ponderosa pine logs
would be shipped from here to the Hines
There is still an open store here, the
only one around for miles. The lumber
The most impressive building in town is
probably the school.
[Music]
After a lot of straight driving across
the Great Basin, this section of the
road really stands out.
We've just reached Canyon City. This is
the county seat for Grant County, Oregon.
Oregon.
Canyon City was founded in 1862 when
gold was found in the area.
Initially around 10,000 people flocked
here, but by 1870 the population was
down to around 250.
It's grown slightly since then. It was
The Grant County Historical Museum is
actually open, so we'll take a quick
We've had pretty bad luck with getting
to local museums on days they are closed
on this trip. So, it's nice to finally
get to check one out.
And wow, does this one have a lot of stuff.
There is so much here and there is just
room after room. You could easily spend
Poor A Schmidt. I mean, I guess they're
lucky that their wooden grave marker was
actually saved and not lost to time, but
now it sits
These museums are always a great way to
learn about the local area, and the
Like, here's a little section
Like I said, I could easily spend all
day here, but we still have a lot of
ground to cover. So, unfortunately, we
We are passing through the town of John
Day and we're going to take a slight
There are quite a few things in the area
named for John Day, such as the John Day
River, John Day Fossil Beds National
Monument, and two towns, Daveville, and
of course, this town, the town of John Day.
John Day, however, never set foot in
Day was a hunter employed by the Pacific
Fur Company. And in 1811, he was a
member of an overland expedition that
was traveling from Missouri to Fort
During the journey, Day and another
member, Ramsay Krooks, fell behind the
group due to illness.
When they continued on the journey a few
days later, as they were traveling along
the Columbia River, a little more than a
100 miles from here, the two men were
robbed and stripped naked by Native Americans.
Americans.
This was apparently in revenge for some
members of the fur company killing some
of the natives. So really, Day and
Day and Crooks had to wander across the
wilderness of Oregon naked. They were
kind of the first contestants on Naked
and Afraid, I guess, until they were
eventually rescued.
Where the robbery happened is where the
John Day River meets the Columbia River,
and members of the Fur Company began
referring to it as John Day's River, and
But the river cuts through this area,
and it's the largest undamned river in
Oregon. So, there's a lot of stuff named
And speaking of John Day, we are now at
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.
Right in front of us is Picture Gorge.
And that mountain sticking up in the
The National Monument has three separate
sections. Today we'll be visiting what's
called the Sheep Rock unit, which is
This river cut through the rock here and
formed Picture Gorge over countless years.
Unfortunately, you can't stop anywhere
in Picture Gorge, so we'll just have to
talk about it as we drive through.
Now, I don't know a lot about geology,
so I'm just going off of the National
Park Services website here, but picture
gourd is made up of layers of flood basults.
basults.
16 million years ago, there were 61
sporadic lava flows that erupted on
average every 15,000 years that created this.
this.
Then over time, the river cut through
the rock and made this gorge.
And this thing really makes for a
This part of the park is also where
we'll find the fossil beds the park gets
This is the Thomas Condan Paleontology
Center. It showcases fossils of rhinos,
camels, and saber-tooth like predators
that once roam these valleys.
This is actually the second time I've
visited this park. And this is the
second time the paleontology center was
And there are Sheep Rock on the other
side of the valley. I don't know. When I
look at this, I don't really see a sheep.
The landscape here is pretty incredible,
though. It looks like everything's been
This became a national monument in 1975,
but it looks like it was registered as a
We're kind of across the street from the
paleontology center now. And this is the
James K arrived in eastern Oregon in
1905 as part of a wave of Scottish
migrants that settled in this valley
In 1910, he purchased this land and
This house was built sometime between
Let's take a quick walk around the
ranch. See if we can walk down to the river.
river.
And there's an apple tree here. There's
a sign that says you can pick the fruit
if you want. just don't climb the trees.
But these don't actually look ripe right now.
Prior to K owning this land, it was
owned by Floyd officer who homesteaded here.
here.
And this ranch is in the shadow of Sheep Rock.
Officer ended up selling the land to
James K in 1910 because he wanted to
move to town so that his kids could go
And there is some old farm equipment here.
here.
The scenery out here is incredible, but
it is hot right now and the winters are
brutal. Having a ranch out here in the
The Camp family ended up selling this
land to the National Park Service in 1975.
When the park service purchased this
property, they also acquired its water rights.
And you can see one of the irrigation
and it doesn't have much in the way of
water in it right now, but it's greener
The National Park Service still leases
out four fields of irrigated land for
hay production in an effort to preserve
the historic use and appearance of the
fields, though it doesn't look like any
And we are just about at the river. And
the mosquitoes are extremely happy that
I decided to take this walk.
And here's the John Day River again.
Now, let's head downstream a few miles
So, we've stopped at a place called Blue
Basin, and it doesn't look very blue
yet, but it will once we get a little
bit further down the trail.
We're walking through what looks like
dry desert country. But if you roll the
clock back about 44 million years, this
was a lush subtropical paradise.
Imagine thick forests filled with more
than 175 kinds of nut and fruit trees,
buzzing with insects and birds, and
crawling with creatures that feel like
they came straight out of a story book.
There were tiny three-toed horses
darting through the underbrush,
crocodiles covered in armored plates,
the very first land tortoises, and even
giant predators that look like cats but
We're starting to see some of that blue now.
now.
So, as the ages passed, the world
changed. The climate cooled and floods
swept through these valleys, washing
animals into a natural quarry.
Then came the ash and pummus from the
growing cascade volcanoes, burying
entire forests and locking those bones
away for scientists to find millions of
In the 1800s, an Irish immigrant named
Thomas Condan, the same Thomas Condan
the Paleontology Center is named for,
began digging up fossils here, making
some pretty incredible discoveries. He
was even named Oregon's first state geologist.
And speaking of fossils, here is a
replica of a tortoise shell fossil.
I'm not sure how well this can be seen
And there's probably still fossils
This is such a great fossil location
because it kept getting buried because
of volcanoes.
After the subtropical forests were
buried, this eventually became
grasslands and sagebrush with herds of
camels, elephants, and giant sloths.
Then about 7 million years ago, a
volcano near where Burns is today
exploded with unimaginable force,
sending fire and ash across 13,000
square miles and wiping the slate clean
And something tells me we've reached the
So, this is the blue basin, the fossil
bed where the park gets its name from.
Hopefully, the blue color is showing up
good on the camera. I have a feeling
this might be one of those places that
looks a lot better in person than it
But it's time to turn around and
continue on our way through Oregon on
We've backtracked and we're back heading
north on Highway 395,
which you could probably tell by the
Google Maps has this listed as the Beach
Creek Stage Station, though I've been
As far as the settlement of Beach Creek
goes, the post office was established on
January 26, 1900, and James T. Barry was
the first postmaster.
And I don't think this was a stage
station. This was probably just an old ranch.
Whatever it was, there's not much left
The old house looks pretty cool, though.
I also wish we could get over there and
We've now traveled over 250 m of Highway
395 through Oregon so far. And it's
crazy how it's remained so empty pretty
Even when we travel through the rare
small town, we still don't see any
Now we'll be driving through the
It looks like we've made it to the 45th
parallel. We're now halfway between the
equator and the North Pole. We're not
And there are a lot of mosquitoes here
at the 45th parallel. I'm going to get
This mountain gets its name as the
decisive battle of what was called the
Banick War was fought here. This was the
last major Native American uprising in
The uprising was started by Banick
Indians, but Pony Blanket, a northern
Pyute, inherited command. He led Pyutes,
banics, and snakes on a wide sweep out
of Idaho through eastern Oregon and into
But United States Army troops under the
command of General Oliver Howard
defeated him here. And a few days later,
a Umatillaa scout working for the army
All the drinking fountains and the
fireplace here at the park were built in
One thing you won't find here, though,
is the story behind the park's name.
There's not a single sign or marker
explaining the battle or what happened
here. The history is forgotten, only
We're just approaching Pendleton and
looks like we got here just in time for
Pendleton is a true cowboy town, and we
even have these statues greeting us on
our way into town. This is called the
cattle drive.
If you've heard the name Pendleton
before, chances are you're thinking of
the famous wool shirts and blankets.
This is the town they're named for.
Pendleton was also on the Oregon Trail.
In 1851, settlers built a trading post
at the confluence of McKay Creek and the
Umatillaa River. And by 1868, the new
town was officially named Pendleton.
after a vice presidential candidate of
This is the old train station. It's now
a museum, one that's of course closed.
The arrival of the railroad in the 1880s
turned Pendleton into a booming hub.
This little frontier outpost quickly
became one of Oregon's biggest cities,
fueled by agriculture, cattle, and the
And out of that wool trade in 1909 came
the Pendleton Woolen Mills, which is
still producing blankets and shirts that
are known worldwide.
And if you've ever seen those blankets,
Let's take a look around downtown. It's
a little late, so not much is open, but
I'm mostly interested in seeing the
this is the Working Girls Hotel. This
was built in the late 1890s and was a
It's been remodeled and now it's a
hotel. Unfortunately, it's not where
we're staying tonight. We'll be at the
There are also statues up and down the
street of important people in
Pendleton's history. According to the
You have to be careful walking around
here. You never know when you might come
across a historic sidewalk.
I should also mention that long before
settlers arrived in the area, this was
the homeland of the Caillus, Umatillaa,
and Walawwala tribes. In 1855, they
signed a treaty with the United States
government, forming the Confederated
tribes of the Umatillaa Indian Reservation.
There are tunnels underneath the
sidewalk and there is an underground
tour. Unfortunately, we're too late for
it, but it gives us a reason to come
There are a lot of cool old buildings
here, but I'm actually looking for something.
My great-grandfather came here for the
Pendleton Roundup in 1937.
And I know this because I have a box of
negatives of photos he took. And I was
hoping to try and recreate one of his
photos while walking around down here.
Of course, not all of the buildings are
the same, and the lens on this camera is
a little different,
This building that looks like a castle
was built in 1905 by a photographer
named WS Bowman.
He built it as his studio as well as
retail and residential space.
And it sits right on the Umatillaa River.
Pendleton's real claim to fame is
In 1910, the community launched the
first Pendleton Roundup, a wild frontier
show that's grown into one of the
Every September, it brings in about
The slogan for the Pendleton Roundup is
From tribal heritage to railroads, wool,
and rodeo legends, Pendleton isn't just
a stop on the Oregon Trail. It's a town
that helped define the spirit of the
This part of Highway 395 overlaps with
Interstate 84. And as far as interstates
go, this isn't too crowded. But it feels
like big city rush hour compared to the
empty highway we've had through Oregon
up to this point. I've seen more cars
driving on the road in the last 10
minutes than I did in the last few days, probably.
We only have about 30 miles until we
reach the Columbia River and the
There may not be as much to do on this
section of Highway 395 as there is in California,
California,
but I think the highway through Oregon
is all about the drive. I think the
scenery through Oregon has been
incredible. And from the California
state line almost until you reach
Pendleton, there are so few cars on the
road with you. It feels like you have
the highway to yourself.
To me, Highway 395 in Oregon is a
There is the Columbia River below us and
the bridge that will take us into Washington.
Washington.
Lewis and Clark even came through here
on their expedition to the Pacific and
Of course, it looks a lot different
today with the McNary Dam here.
Construction on this dam began in 1947
But let's try to head down to the river
Here is the Umatillaa Bridge, though
it's actually two bridges. The
southbound bridge opened in 1955. And
We are now on the banks of the Columbia
River. And so that ends our journey on
Highway 395 in Oregon, which definitely
deserves its title as Oregon's loneliest
road. Thank you so much for watching. If
you enjoyed the video, please give it a
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