Activities
Become a Junior Ranger!
The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
Early cousins of camels, rhinoceroses and elephants once lived in Eastern Oregon. Today, scientists study the area’s 50 million years of plant and animal evolution at the Thomas Condon Paleontology (pey-lee-uhn-TOL-uh-jee) Center Museum at John Day Fossil Beds.
You can take guided tours, investigate fossil specimens through microscopes and sign up to earn your very own Junior Ranger badge. Open year-round!
John Day Fossil Beds, Sheep Rock Unit, 541.987.2333, www.nps.gov/joda
Westward Ho on the Oregon Trail!
Imagine walking 2,000 miles from Missouri to Oregon in search of a better life. Beginning in 1842 that is what thousands of pioneers did. They walked alongside their heavy wagons and tired oxen, ate meals of rice and bacon, and often burned dried buffalo dung to keep warm at night.
Want to learn more about what it was like to be a young pioneer? You can walk in pioneers’ tracks, pan for gold and learn about true life on the trail at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City. You may even discover how lucky you are—after all, young pioneers had a lot of chores!
NATIONAL HISTORIC OREGON TRAIL INTERPRETIVE CENTER, Baker City
541.523.1843, www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail
The Sky’s the Limit
Your parents will love the beautiful scenery at Wallowa Lake—they may even say the mountains remind them of The Sound of Music. And YOU will love all the action! Wallowa Lake has parasailing, horseback riding, hiking, lots of wildlife, trout fishing, miniature golf and go-kart racing. Take your pick. And one thing everyone will love is the Wallowa Lake Tramway, which takes you on an amazing ride to the top of Mt. Howard—a vertical climb of 3,700 feet!
WALLOWA LAKE STATE PARK, Joseph, www.OregonStateParks.org/park_27.php
