The Blue Mountains Heritage Trail (BMHT) is being designed as a long-distance trail, primarily for foot and pack travel, through the best of Northeastern Oregon’s Blue Mountain primitive region. The base trail, which forms a circle and traverses the most primitive country, will be approximately 870 miles long. It is made up of over forty segments ranging from just over 10 miles in length to near 40 miles in length. The ends of all segments are accessible, accommodating hiker support and choice of segments and landforms to be hiked. In addition, a number of shorter trail segments and routes will be provided, designed to connect communities and accommodate day trips and the European bed to bed hiking experience. When linked together these trail routes will constitute the larger Blue Mountains Heritage Trail Network.
The Blue Mountain Heritage Trail has been a dream of outdoor enthusiasts for more than forty years. This path through some of the most wild and spectacular country our nation has to offer, begins and ends at the same place. The traveler of this grand and wonderful route, which loops around the Blue Mountains of Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington, chooses where that beginning/ending place shall be. Shrub and grass steppe, coniferous forest, glacial carved granitic sub-alpine, canyon rims, canyon bottoms, rivers, mountains; all beckon the lover of wild places.
The route highlights the designated Wilderness areas of the region while traversing the most primitive of the rest of the country along this 800+ mile course. Of course access points along the route provide the potential traveler with the options of shorter trips and many samplings of the experience.
There is a magic appeal in a circle. This proposal encircles the major portions of Union, Wallowa, Baker, Grant and Umatilla counties. The circular route sets this trail apart from other national long distance trails. With any portion of the trail only a short drive from LaGrande, Baker City, Enterprise and Pendleton or the near by smaller communities, a visitor can stay an entire season within the circle, experiencing all that the Blue Mountain Heritage Trail, and the associated communities have to offer.
Ground-truthing, refining, information gathering, contacting and all the other tasks necessary to making this trail a reality is a work in progress.
