Bates State Park, Oregon

You’ll find Bates in the shadows of a foregone lumber mill, on 131 acres of valley watched over by the Blue Mountains of Eastern, Oregon. You’ll find it near the middle fork of the John Day River and the fetching town of Prairie City. You’ll find it criss-crossed by the Old West Scenic Bikeway and sunkissed by Canyon grazed skies that make the blue you once knew meaningless. This fairly recent addition to the Oregon Parks system awaits your picnicking families, your hiking boots and your bicycle weary camping spirit! Come to Bates for a moment or for many. Make it a stop on your way to Malheur National Forest or part of your Old West scenic bike tour. Get a dose of history and study the past of a town that shapeshifted from thriving to abandoned. Breathe in both the stillness and the charge of this dramatic land.