Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area (Emigrant Springs State Park) - Pendleton OR

City:: Pendleton, OR
Site Type:: Picnic and Other Facilities, Parks and Recreation, Paths and Trails, Comfort Stations (Restrooms), Park Roads and Bridges
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Started:: 1935
Quality of Information:: Moderate
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

Located between Pendleton and La Grande, Oregon, near the summit of the Blue Mountains along Interstate -84, Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area offers an interpretation of the significance of this location on the Oregon Trail as it provides camping, picnicking, and hiking opportunities. While land acquisition for the park area began in 1925 and continued for nearly fifty years, significant improvement of the park for day use activities took place in the mid-1930s. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was located at the site and assigned to the State Park Commission. From 1935 to 1937, CCC enrollees improved the area by “clearing away unnecessary brush, constructing park roads, trails, and car parking areas, drilling a 6-inch well 370 feet deep, and constructing a day use area with three latrines, water system and sanitary disposal tanks.”

In the 1950s, significant expansion of Emigrant Springs took place with the development of the park’s camping facilities. Evidence of the CCC enrollees’ work is still evident, however, in the layout of the day use area.