For my last stop in the Blue Mountains of Oregon I was in Ukiah. It’s a little teeny town (population 186 in 2010) that looks to derive it’s primary living from the US Forest Service office in town, but there were a lot of good looking cattle nearby so ranching has to have it’s part. It’s in a valley in the Blue Mountains at an elevation of 3400 feet (1000 m).
It’s an old town, you can clearly see. Everything but the Forest Service office is mid 20th century or older which makes it very attractive to my eyes. It’s just east of US 395 but I’m guessing that there is not much ‘casual’ traffic. You pretty much have to be going there to get there. There doesn’t seem to be a service station, but there is a school with an electronic sign on Main Street which makes me think it’s still open.
At least one person in Ukiah has a sense of humor. I couldn’t tell if the motorcycle lit there or was launching from there, but it was at least 20 feet (6 m) off the ground. At one time that building was probably my kind of place.
There’s a place on Main Street called the Thicket that may or may not be open. It wasn’t when I was there, but it looked to have some recent use. There is also the Antlers Inn which obviously caters to hunters. Not only rooms, beer and snacks are advertised but also butchering and meat coolers for the guests.
There are quite a few racks posted here and on the rim of the porch. Moose, Elk, White Tail Deer, and Antilope for sure. There is a Pheasant Hunting Ranch nearby but I didn’t see any pheasant racks anywhere. They are pretty small so maybe I just didn’t see them.
You know that the place gets a fair amount of snow each year when a machine like this is parked right on Main Street in the ready to go position in early July.
I seriously enjoyed my drive through the ‘back side’ of the Blue Mountains. Very picturesque and lightly populated. You can see my other two posts about the house in Granite (here) and the regrowth of the forest here. If you find yourself with a slow afternoon in Northeast Oregon this road certainly beats the Freeway.
All words and photographs in this post are mine. For better or worse.
