Blog

Mar 28, 2023

When basalt (and wildflowers) beckon

Jacoby I f I am ever kidnapped, blindfolded and then dropped off somewhere

Jacoby

If I am ever kidnapped, blindfolded and then dropped off somewhere between the Anthony Lakes Highway and Ladd Canyon, I’d like to believe I would quickly recognize roughly where I was.

Assuming it was daylight, anyway.

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Jayson Jacoby is editor of the Baker City Herald. He thanks Jason McClaughry, geological survey and services program manager at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries office in Baker City, for his help with the geologic details.

Jacoby

If you’re coming from La Grande or points north, drive Interstate 84 to the Ladd Creek exit. Follow the gravel Ladd Canyon Road, Forest Road 43, for 14 miles to the junction with Road 190, which branches off to the right, and uphill.

If you’re coming from Baker City, North Powder or points south, drive Interstate 84 to the Wolf Creek exit, a couple miles north of North Powder, and follow Wolf Creek Road to Wolf Creek Reservoir. Continue on the main road along the east side of the reservoir, past a couple cabins, and into the forest. The road becomes Forest Road 4315, and it follows the canyon of the north fork of Wolf Creek. Continue on Road 4315 for about 19 miles (from the reservoir) to a junction with the Ladd Canyon Road, No. 43. Turn right and follow Road 43 for two miles to the junction with Road 190.

Roads 43 and 4315 are both well-maintained gravel roads. Road 4315 is narrower, with steeper grades as it climbs along the canyon wall above the north fork of Wolf Creek.

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