Essential Guide to Eastern Oregon Breweries

Eastern Oregon is a vast area about the size of Kentucky, and many of the population centers are connected by I-84 as it follows the Columbia River east before turning south, passing through Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City, and Ontario. If you’re leaving from Portland, expect a long but beautiful drive down the Columbia River Gorge. Pendleton is 3.5 hours away, and Ontario is almost six. If you’re planning a trip to Central Oregon, it makes the vast stretches of Eastern Oregon more accessible.

The Wallowas and Eagle Cap Wilderness

Northeast Oregon is the most remote region of the state, but with the Wallowa Mountains and Eagle Cap Wilderness it easily vies for title of most beautiful. Joseph and Enterprise are wonderful small towns to explore before heading into the mountains. Don’t skip Wallowa Lake near Joseph—and be sure to take the tram to the top of Mt. Howard, with a summit of over 8,000 feet.

Baker City

The towns of Eastern Oregon each have their charms, but Baker City manages to capture a timeless feel of living on the western frontier. It is also one of Oregon’s prettiest communities, with a downtown listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s studded with beautiful buildings, like the art deco Baker Tower, Victorian-era Geiser Grand Hotel, and 1874 City Hall. It features multiple museums and cultural venues, but perhaps its most famous location is Barley Brown’s Brewery.

Pendleton Round-Up

During the second week of September every year since 1910, the biggest show in the state is the Pendleton Round-Up. The event draws 50,000 people and is routinely cited as the best large rodeo in the US. Events run for a week, and just being in Pendleton during rodeo week is a blast. While you’re in town, check out Prodigal Son Brewing.

Eastern Oregon is home to two of Oregon’s most widely known breweries. Founded in 1998 by Tyler Brown, Barley Brown’s started as a modest brewpub, but its beers almost immediately began winning awards and drawing national attention. The flagship IPA, Pallet Jack, became an Oregon standard and is still available statewide.

The late Steve Carper had brewed around the Northwest and went looking for the perfect place to start his own brewery. He landed in Enterprise in 1997, where he founded Terminal Gravity. Like Brown, he also settled on a hoppy beer as his flagship. Terminal Gravity IPA, and it was also a landmark beer in the state. The brewpub in Enterprise, a converted bungalow, is one of the special places to drink beer, especially on a sunny day. The sloping grassy lawn, bordered by a small stream, seems purpose-built for beer drinking.