Discover Joseph, Oregon: Art, Nature, and Local Culture in the Wallowa Valley

Enjoy kayaking, boating or fishing at the iconic Wallowa Lake just south of Joseph.
Enjoy kayaking, boating or fishing at the iconic Wallowa Lake just south of Joseph.
Photo by Wallowa County Chmaber of Commerce

In artsy Joseph in summer, there’s much to see and experience—and not much time

written by James Sinks

It’s little mystery why Joseph attracts artists in droves.

Surrounded by windswept grassy fields and in the shadow of towering peaks and glacier-carved Wallowa Lake, and with the easygoing aura of a place where nobody is in a hurry including hungry herds of loitering local deer, the Western-themed hamlet all but demands that you slow down, exhale and revel.

And yet it’s almost impossible—nor would it be responsible—to breathe and bathe in the dramatic landscapes of the northeast corner of Oregon without also acknowledging a sad irony.

It was here in 1879 that newly arrived settlers called the town Joseph, after the Nez Perce chief who’d just recently been chased from the valley. Chief Joseph always hoped his people could one day return to their ancestral homeland and the place his father was buried, even after his fugitive tribe—battling and escaping from the Army for more than 1,000 miles—was stopped just shy of escaping to Canada.

He is famously remembered for his 1877 surrender that ended the Nez Perce War. “I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

Chief Joseph eventually settled on a Washington state reservation, but trekked to Washington, D.C., and the Wallowa Valley to plead to return home. Yet settlers signed petitions against it, and offered no acreage for sale near the town that shares his name. He died in 1904, in Washington, and is buried there.

Today in Joseph, just down the road from his father’s gravesite, a larger-than-life bronze statue of the legendary younger chief watches over Main Street. Ringed by inscriptions of his famous sayings, it is a testament to newer, contemporary acceptance.

Discover life-sized bronze statues on a stroll through Joseph.
Discover life-sized bronze statues on a stroll through Joseph.
Photo by Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce

The likeness is among more than a dozen metalworks on the avenue of wood-facade eateries, art galleries and merchants. A once-rough-around-the-edges timber and farm town, today the Old West and New West meet in Joseph.

The city of roughly 1,200 people is also the doorstep to some amazingly great outdoors. The neighboring 565-square-mile Eagle Cap Wilderness boasts alpine lakes and thirty-one peaks higher than 8,000 feet, earning it the nickname the “Little Switzerland of America.” Also nearby is Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, with its river gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Yet while the list of possibilities is long, the time to experience them is not. The valley sits at more than 4,000 feet, where winters linger late and fall arrives early.

Jennifer Piper, the local chamber director, said it’s a very good idea to make reservations far in advance, due to the compressed season, and especially when the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo comes to town.

A less good idea? Trying to feed or pose with those meandering local deer.

Day 1

BREWS • BRONZE • HISTORIC STAYS

After five hours on the road, it’s bliss when curvy state Highway 82 straightens into the Wallowa Valley, where there are no traffic lights, an abundance of cows and one mythical lake monster (more on that later).

Feel like you’ve earned a snacky snack after the trek? Reward your sore bum in the town of Wallowa at Little Bear Drive-In, where they’ve churned out legendary local huckleberry shakes since 1974.

Around the corner, at the base of craggy Tick Hill, feed your spirit at the Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, a 323-acre retreat sold by a ranching family for the tribe’s Wallowa Band to finally have a place to gather.

Open to the public, the nonprofit-managed site is home to a pavilion, a longhouse for tribal ceremonies, campsites, river frontage, trails and a den of local foxes. A 2023 Oregon Travel Stewardship awardee, it hosts the Tamkaliks Celebration powwow and heritage festival each July.

Nearby in Enterprise, the county seat, find one of Oregon’s best-loved breweries, Terminal Gravity. Come summer, few places on the planet are better to sit and sip in the shade than the grass out front.

Founder Steve Carper said beer making is a blend of science and art, and you’ll enjoy masterpieces up and down the permanent and seasonal taps, including the hoppy pale ale that put them on the map in 1997. There’s also good grub, and the occasional guest chef.

When Joseph’s sawmill closed in the early 1990s, it was the catalyst for a community identity crisis. Ultimately, it convinced locals to embrace artisans like sculptors, and fundamentally changed the city, said Casey Hayes, who runs tours at Valley Bronze of Oregon, a foundry that’s turned artistic visions into metalwork from Main Street in Joseph to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. There are now three local foundries.

Get acquainted with the local statuary, plus murals and a constellation of galleries, on a self-guided Main Street art walk. Then, just south of city limits, soak up views and maybe dip your toes along 3.5-mile-long Wallowa Lake, formed long ago by glacier-molded earthen moraines.

Shops, restaurants and bronze sculptures line Joseph’s postcard-worthy Main Street.
Shops, restaurants and bronze sculptures line Joseph’s postcard-worthy Main Street.
Photo by Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce

For vintage overnight appeal, century-old Wallowa Lake Lodge and Cabins overlook the lake on its south end, with a beach, boat rentals and deer. Constructed from trees on the property, the lodge now belongs to a local group that wants to protect it from being torn down for a cookie-cutter resort.

Rather stay downtown? Climb creaky stairs to cozy rooms at boutique Jennings Hotel, in a circa-1910 building redeveloped via a Kickstarter campaign. The place boasts a sauna and guest rooms designed by Portland artists. In one of the shared bathrooms, flowering artwork adorns the ceiling.

Grab seats on the front patio at Slack Drinks and Dining, and mostly fill up on ribeye, salmon, burgers and seasonal cocktails. The remaining room? It’s for the ice cream.

Afterward, unwind and toast your Wallowa County arrival with whiskey and locals at the fire pit behind Stubborn Mule Saloon. If you’re stubbornly stiff from the drive, there’s a sauna waiting.

Day 2

WILDERNESS • TRAMWAY VIEWS • NIGHT KAYAKING

Just south of Wallowa Lake, the highway ends at a fence. From here, you’ll need a free Eagle Cap Wilderness Permit (available at the trailhead) and can travel only by nonmotorized foot power.

Hiking trails abound in the adjacent Eagle Cap Wilderness.
Hiking trails abound in the adjacent Eagle Cap Wilderness.
Photo by Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce

Happily, that power can be of the equine sort, and Wallowa Lake Pack Station offers trail rides of varying distances, including an hourlong wake-up trip at 8 a.m.

If straddling saddles makes you fear chafing, you can cross two tumbling rivers—and pose at a rocky outcrop—on the 2.5-mile roundtrip to BC Creek Falls, which cascades under a bridge made from a fallen log.

To replace all those burned calories, and then some, grab chocolate Bavarian cream donuts from the drive-through at Vali’s Alpine Restaurant (be sure to order ahead online or by phone for weekend morning pickup), or head to Enterprise’s Sugar Time Bakery, with locally roasted coffee, pastries and morning specials. A bonus: If you order pie for breakfast, they don’t judge.

The railroad that once connected Joseph to the world no longer runs trains, but you can pedal the tracks and see the sights on four-wheeled carts at Joseph Branch Railriders. Or, if you like the stress of a freeway, you’ll love swerving the track at venerable Wallowa Lake Go-Karts.

Joseph’s easygoing vibe can cure most of what may ail you, and with retail therapy if necessary. You absolutely should also self medicate at sweetsmith Arrowhead Chocolates, with milk and dark chocolate turtles, tiramisu truffles and lime habanero caramels. The Dog Spot is probably the only combined pet store, bar and restaurant you’ll ever visit, and it will be the best, either way. The menu is fresh and local, and the wine list will make your tail wag.

Satiate a sweet tooth with truffles, caramels and other confections at Arrowhead Chocolates.
Satiate a sweet tooth with truffles, caramels and other confections at Arrowhead Chocolates.
Photo by Eugenie Frerichs/Travel Oregon

Afterward, get really high at Wallowa Lake Tramway, a fifteen-minute uphill trip that was once the steepest aerial gondola in North America. Atop 8,150-foot Mount Howard, you can roam trails, see from Idaho to the valley floor below, and almost trip over unbelievably plump chipmunks. Chances are, they’re hiding out from wolves that also roam the northeast Oregon backcountry.

For dinner both simple and sublime, it’s twenty minutes to the community of Lostine and 107-year-old M. Crow & Co. General Store, with a menu of pizza, salads, sausages and nine varieties of pickled eggs. In addition to foodstuffs, it also sells handmade ceramics and denim.

According to Nez Perce legend, long ago a couple disappeared on Wallowa Lake, victims of a monster from the depths. While it’s never been sighted, you can buy tourist gear featuring Oregon’s version of the Loch Ness monster, affectionately known as “Wally.”

You’ll hear those tales during an Oregon bucket list finale to the day: JO Paddle’s nighttime lake float in colorful LED-lit clear plastic kayaks, under a dazzling starscape. Co-owner Hannah Shoffner even wrote a children’s book about Wally.

Don’t miss JO Paddle’s colorful nighttime kayak tours on Wallowa Lake.
Don’t miss JO Paddle’s colorful nighttime kayak tours on Wallowa Lake.
Photo by JO Paddle

Chances are, you won’t see him. Probably.

Day 3

CORN CAKES • WHISKEY • ARTS + HERITAGE

Wave hello to the hungry deer on your morning jog, but from a safe distance, so it will help to not dress like a carrot. Unless of course you’re an Oregon State fan and orange is all you’ve got.

If you didn’t already know The Blythe Cricket bistro is an irresistible breakfast draw, the colorful metal sunflowers out front offer a culinary clue: The centers of the blooms are waffle irons. Try the Jacked Up Corn Cakes, a cornmeal pancake filled with beans and peppers and topped with cheese and sour cream. Also, of course, the waffles.

Next door, Stein Distillery distills local grain into liquid happiness like corn whiskey and rye vodka. The cordial staff also will serve up cordials, and samples are free.

Creativity and history combine at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, which offers classes, exhibits and the library collection of Alvin Josephy, a World War II correspondent, magazine editor and historian who became founding board chair of the National Museum of the American Indian. And at the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, learn about a nearby former timber town that was desegregated during the segregation era, and kept the menacing Ku Klux Klan at bay.

A rare treat is the history and culture in the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture.
A rare treat is the history and culture in the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture.
Photo by Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce

Finish your trip with a splash. Minam Store books bouncy half-day adventures on Wallowa River whitewater.

Or, stay drier on a self-guided historic barn tour, by car or by bike, and work your way to one of the last undisturbed grassland tracts in the West. The Nature Conservancy’s Zumwalt Prairie Preserve covers some 33,000 acres and is the nonprofit’s largest holding in Oregon. The U.S. Department of the Interior designated 4,400 acres of it as a National Natural Landmark.

Add a barn tour to your itinerary and take in the vibrancy and scenery of the valley.
Add a barn tour to your itinerary and take in the vibrancy and scenery of the valley.
Photo by Joni Kabana/Travel Oregon

This is where the deer and the antelope (and elk) play—and wildflowers sway, and tribes once grazed horses, and artists find inspiration. On welcoming trails under endless skies, you’ll gain an even deeper understanding of why this is a place that people never want to leave.

JOSEPH + THE WALLOWA VALLEY, OREGON

EAT

Arrowhead Chocolates
www.arrowheadchocolates.com

The Blythe Cricket
www.theblythecricket.com

Little Bear Drive-In
www.facebook.com/littlebeardrivein

M. Crow & Co. General Store
www.mcrowcompany.com

Slack Drinks + Dining
@slack.drinks.and.dining on Instagram

Stubborn Mule Saloon
www.stubbornmulesaloon.com

Sugar Time Bakery
www.sugartimebakery.com

Terminal Gravity Brewing
www.terminalgravitybrewing.com

Vali’s Alpine Restaurant
www.valisrestaurant.com

STAY

Eagle Cap Chalets
www.eaglecapchalets.com

Jennings Hotel & Sauna
www.jenningshotel.com

Wallowa Lake Lodge and Cabins
www.wallowalakelodge.com

PLAY

JO Paddle
www.jopaddle.com

Joseph Branch Rail Riders
www.JBRailriders.com

Joseph Bronze Art Walk
www.josephoregon.com/joseph-or-events/artwalk

Josephy Center for Arts and Culture
www.josephy.org

Maxville Heritage interpretive Center
www.maxvilleheritage.org

Minam Store
www.minamstore.com

Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland
www.wallowanezperce.org

Stein Distillery
www.steindistillery.com

Valley Bronze of Oregon
www.valleybronze.com

Wallowa County Barn Tour
www.wallowacountychamber.com/wallowas-county-barn-tour/

Wallowa Lake Go Karts
541-432-9285

Wallowa Lake Pack Station
www.wallowalakepackstation.com

Wallowa Lake Tramway
www.wallowalaketramway.com

Zumwalt Prairie Preserve
www.nature.org

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