Oregon Trail history in La Grande
The Oregon Trail passed through this part of Oregon. This page uses the National Park Service, Wikipedia, Travel Oregon and the Forest Service.
The trail
The National Park Service says wagons first traveled the route from Missouri to Oregon in 1836, and that a wagon train of nearly 1,000 people left Independence, Missouri, in 1843. Wikipedia puts the trail at about 2,170 miles, with heavy traffic from 1846 to 1869 and about 400,000 settlers using it and its offshoots. It says the biggest obstacle for the 1843 wagon trains was in Oregon's Blue Mountains, where travelers had to cut a trail through heavy timber. The NPS site says more than 2,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen along the Oregon National Historic Trail.
Blue Mountain Crossing
Travel Oregon describes Blue Mountain Crossing as the Oregon Trail Interpretive Park, a combined interpretive trail and picnic area off Interstate 84 at exit 248 at La Grande. It says the park is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and that visitors can see Oregon Trail swales, which are depressions left by wagons, and wagon scars on ponderosa pines. A half-mile loop with interpretive panels is wheelchair accessible. The Forest Service describes the nearby trailhead as holding some of the best-preserved traces of the Oregon Trail on a forested ridge. Travel Oregon lists the park as open weekends and holidays from May to October, so check with the Forest Service before you go.