Minam

The gateway to the Wallowas is a gem in the rough

Story and photo by Katy Nesbitt

The gateway to the Wallowas, Minam sits at the confluence of two rivers and at the boundary of two counties. While most visitors buzz by to get to Wallowa Lake or the Eagle Cap Wilderness, those looking for an off-the-beaten-path experience won’t be disappointed.

Today, Minam is best-known as a rafting launch site on the Wallowa River at its confluence with Minam River. Within a couple of miles the river corridor is mostly roadless, with limited access at Rondowa, where the Grande Ronde and Wallowa rivers meet.

From there to Wildcat Creek near Troy, the river winds through private land and land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Campsites are recognizable along the route, but rafters looking to camp should avoid accidentally camping on private land and should carry a BLM map that’s available at this website: https://tinyurl. com/y2zxw8dz

From Minam it’s nearly 40 river miles to Troy, or rafters can continue to Boggans Oasis in Washington, or go all the way to Heller Bar on the Snake River. Depending on the flow, the trip can be a leisurely float or a rollicking ride during spring runoff.

Trout anglers can find success in the Minam and Wallowa rivers nearly year-round. Check current Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations to avoid fishing during seasonal spring closures. Between September and April, steelhead fishing is a draw. The most active time is during some of the coldest, least hospitable weeks of the year – February and March.

Hearty anglers, whether they use flies, bait or gear, take advantage of pullouts off of Highway 82 along the Wallowa River. Ample parking is available at the Minam State Park boat launch and from there anglers can drive or walk along the west side of the Wallowa River toward the Minam Campground. The road is closed to the campground is closed seasonally, so be aware of current conditions.

The Minam campground, a little less than two miles from Highway 82, is open May 6 through Oct. 31. There are 22 primitive sites as well as water and vault toilets. Sites are available on a firstcome first-served basis. Nature trails provide access to the nearby forest and river, fishing access and swimming. Birders will enjoy the abundant variety of species from bald eagles to osprey, migrating bluebirds, woodpeckers, turkeys, geese and ducks.

Minam is a draw for big game and upland bird hunters with its proximity to regulated hunting on privately held industrial forest land as well as the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

The Minam River Wildlife Area offers access to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. About three-quarters of a mile from Minam west on Highway 82 and up the Minam Grade is a gravel road leading to the Minam River. From there, horse trailers, pickups and passenger vehicles are left behind as adventure seekers ford the river, following single-track trails and two-track roads through land managed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The wilderness boundary is about 7 miles from the parking area, entryway to hundreds of thousands of acres of backcountry.

The national forest can also be accessed via four-wheel-drive vehicles on Big Canyon Road east of Minam. The road travels through private land, but eventually ends up at the Bear Wallowa Trailhead, another entry into the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Occasionally an expedition train will come as far as Minam from Elgin, but mostly the railroad tracks along the Wallowa River in the Minam Canyon are used by the patrons of the Joseph Branch Railriders. Railriders are kind of like recumbent bicycles that ride the tracks – a great way to see the countryside and wildlife from a slower mode of transportation than a car.

A popular outdoor enthusiast destination, Minam was a popular fishing and gathering area and home to several Indigenous encampments before Euro-American settlement. The bountiful timber attracted the timber industry in the early 20th century and the surrounding forest provided logs to a mill just below the confluence of the Minam and Wallowa rivers. The once-bustling mill town had several businesses including a store and a hotel. In the 1950s the mill burned and most people moved into the other towns in the county.

Today, a remnant of earlier times is the Minam Motel – now the Minam Store, which provides raft rentals, guided trips and shuttle services.