Near the summit of the Blue Mountains, Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area preserves a site where people, including travelers on the Oregon Trail, have replenished water supplies since time immemorial. Now visitors find a refreshing place to camp in a mature forest between Pendleton and La Grande.
Some campsites and all cabins are open year-round. Note that park roads are often snow-covered or icy in winter. Book reservations up to 6 months in advance at oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com.
Emigrant Springs’ duplex totem cabin and six rustic log cabins offer a cozy overnight camping experience. The totem cabin has two separate units that sleep five each. The rustic cabins also sleep up to five. Cabins are equipped with a small refrigerator, table with chairs, lights and heating. Outside you’ll find a propane stove and oven. Visit our Cabins and Yurts page for details.
Up to two pets (cats and/or dogs only) are allowed in the pet-friendly cabins for an additional fee. See our Pets in Parks FAQ for more information.
The group tent camping area accommodates up to 25 guests and can be reserved spring to fall up to six months in advance via oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com.
The horse camp north of the day-use area has seven campsites with corrals. Each corral accommodates two horses. The camp is also a trailhead for an equestrian trail that meanders behind the park.
Oregon Trail wagon ruts can be seen at Deadman’s Pass Rest Area seven miles northwest of Emigrant Springs, on I-84, and at the U.S. Forest Service Oregon Trail Interpretive Park. Continue your exploration at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City.
Pendleton is the home of the famous Pendleton Round-Up. Other local attractions include the Pendleton Underground Tours, the Pendleton Woolen Mills, and the nearby Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, a museum focused on the tribes that inhabited this area.
Explore hundreds of miles of trails in two national forests: Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman.
Call 800-452-5687 or book online at oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com. Reservations are accepted one day to six months in advance.
Call the park office at (541) 983-2277 for availability and an application. Reservations are made up to 6 months in advance. Full payment is due with your return application. The Community Building rental is $150 per day and the rental period is from 9:00 AM to 8:00 AM the next morning (23 hours). There is bench seating & tables for 150 - 200 people. The Community Building must be left in the condition you found it, or a minimum cleaning fee of $100 may be charged. There is an additional $8 reservation fee for each booking.
Not at this time. There are no overhead fire sprinklers, which is a requirement for a community sleeping area. There is a primitive group camp just outside the community building for tent camping. A limited amount of RV's are allowed in the Community Building parking lot overnight, but there are no hookups. Overnight camping next to the Community Building is charged at $10 per night for up to 8 people per tent or RV. Campers are welcome to use the main shower facilities in the lower camping area of the park.
Yes. Call the park office at 541-983-2277 to schedule an interpretive program on Environmental Education.
The Rustic cabins are larger and have a few amenities that the Totem cabins don't have: Rustic cabins sleep 5, have a table & chairs and a mini-fridge inside with a propane cook top and stove out on the porch. The Totem cabins are a duplex that sleep 3 as a double bed with a single bunk on top. Both types of cabins have picnic tables and a fire pit outside.
The park is open year-round for camping and day-use. Roads may be icy or snow-packed Dec-April.
All cabins, five full hookup sites, and one restrrom/shower building are open year-round. Tent campsites, the horse camp, and the group tent camp all close for the winter.
Showers are available for non-campers for a $2 fee.
The heart of the park is a spring that has drawn people to it since time immemorial, long before Oregon's resettlement.
In 1812, trappers and traders of the Astor Expedition crossed the Blue Mountains on their way to Fort Astoria, thus establishing the route later used by wagon trains following the Oregon Trail. By the mid-1800’s, the watering hole was a key landmark for travelers to rest and refill their water barrels.
In the 1880s, the trail was replaced by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (now Union Pacific) railroad, which reaches the mountain summit of Meacham a few miles to the south of the park. During the construction of I-84 in the 1950s, one could still find artifacts on the Oregon Trail in the gulch south of the park.
The state acquired the land from private owners between 1925 and 1970. Extensive day-use developments were made in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In the early 1950s, overnight camp facilities were added.