Our Wild West Tour 2022 to Condon and the Fossil Beds & Painted Hills of Eastern Oregon turned out to be a great success. It is time to schedule another great adventure.
Wild West Tour 2023
Come join us on a spring weekend tour of the Wild West of Southeastern Oregon. We will be spending two nights in Burns, located in the vast high desert of Southeast Oregon. This is the far outpost of Southeast Oregon that few people have had the opportunity to explore. Burns is a friendly “Cow Poke” town with a lot of heritage. It also has plenty of outdoor activities. After all, Burns is near Steens Mountain, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Crystal Crane Hot Springs, Pete French Round Barn, Alvord Desert and Frenchglen Hotel State Heritage Site.
We will be staying two nights at the Historic Central Hotel, a prohibition themed boutique hotel in the heart of Burns. The original hotel was constructed in 1929 and renovated in 2016. It has 12 guest rooms including 7 Rooms with en-suite bathrooms and the other 5 have “shared access” to the hallway. If you plan to join us, I suggest you make your reservations ASAP.
To book a Room, contact Historic Central Hotel at historiccentralhotel@gmail.com. Provide your name, email address & cell phone number, and they will send you an email with a link to add your credit card info. Mention Mt Hood Miata Club for a 10% discount. When looking at their website you will see that no rooms are available. We have a hold for all rooms at the hotel until February 28, 2023. That is why they show no available rooms. Contact the hotel directly to find out which rooms are available.
There are also several other hotels in Burns including a Best Western and Days Inn. (We don’t have a discount agreement with them).
There is a $125 per registrant fee for those staying at the Central Hotel which includes breakfast each day, two dinners and a boxed lunch. There is a $105 per registrant fee for those staying at other hotels which includes two dinners and a boxed lunch. See details for registration.
On Sunday the plan is for everyone to return home on their own or remain in the area to explore on their own.
Craig and Janine are taking the long way home and you are welcome to join us. We will be heading north on Hwy 395 from Burns to John Day with a lunch stop and visit to the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site Museum. From there we continue west on Hwy 26 towards Prineville with stops at the John Day Fossil Beds, Thomas Condon Paleontology Center and Painted Hills Overlook along the way. We will be stopping in Prineville at the Best Western to spend the night. The drive from Burns to Prineville is approximately 260 miles with 5 hours of drive time.
On Monday it is a direct route west on Hwy 26 to the Portland metro area and home.
An alternative drive is to take Hwy 26 west to Hwy 97, north on Hwy 97 to Goldendale, down Klickitat Canyon, and then home on Hwy 14. (A bit longer route but definitively more fun and scenic}