Wallowa Lake Journey

The Beaten Path to Wallowa Lake

When I was a kid our family vacation, almost every year, was to Wallowa Lake in Northeastern Oregon.  Times spent at Wallowa Lake growing up comprise some of my favorite memories of childhood in Eastern Oregon. 

Some of my least favorite memories are comprised of the long trip up to Wallowa Lake.  When you're ten years old any car ride over 45 minutes is a long trip.  This one clocked in around three hours back in the day.

We were packed like sardines in the cab of my Dad’s Ford pick-up, towing the travel trailer up and down mountains and through tiny towns along the way.  Thankfully, my two sisters were very small, and my Mom was tiny too.  Dad and I were not.  They say you don’t breed a draft horse and get a Shetland pony.  That’s the case with my father and me. 

Thankfully, times, and the road to Wallowa Lake, have changed immensely since the early 1980s.  So, join me as I take a trip down memory lane over the next few days and tell you about how Oregon’s Beaten Path to Wallowa Lake has changed over the years to become the gateway to one of Oregon’s Seven Wonders.