Durkee to Bridgeport

Baker County, OR, US

Aperçu de l'itinéraire

Mountain Works Bicycles LLC

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68 km
483 m

A marvelous 43-mile mixed gravel and pavement ride to the ghost town of Bridgeport from the old Durkee, Oregon stage stop. It travels down the Burnt River Canyon with its rocky dry bluffs and burbling river and is perfect for an early spring escapade.

Détails de l'itinéraire

Burnt River Canyon with its rocky dry bluffs and burbling river, is perfect for an early spring escapade. This marvelous 43-mile mixed gravel and pavement ride out to the ghost town of Bridgeport and back begins at the old stage stop of Durkee, Oregon. Durkee, renamed to memorialize the ranching family that sold their land to the railroad, is located just south of Baker City to the west of Interstate 84 on Old Highway 30. I suggest parking next to the old iconic stone Community Hall built in 1912.

Roll north on your gravel bike along the Durkee Valley past frolicking calves and chirping birds on the paved old US Highway 30 for 1.6 miles. This comparatively lush area once housed a main spur of the Oregon Trail and was a welcome stop for travelers after the nearly impassable Burnt River section that claimed pioneers, wagons and stock at will. The crisscross pattern that had pioneers avoiding rocky cliffs pushed them into fording rivers multiple times and damaging wagons on the rough terrain. One wagon train was so unlucky that their tale of woe rivals that of the Donner Party with native attacks, kidnapped children, lost wanderers and cannibalism. Veer west on Burnt River Canyon Lane.

As you enter the Burnt River Canyon, the road turns to improved dirt and countryside more isolated as the rocky hillsides and bluffs become more pronounced. Keep a keen eye out for falling rock, distracted drivers thinking they are alone in the world and bighorn sheep as the road winds along the river. The igneous and sedimentary rocks, reshaped in a metamorphic process of extreme heat and pressure, create beautiful rocks. Examples that can be found along the Burnt River Canyon are, gneiss, limestone, marble and quartz. During the metamorphic and erosion progression pockets of minerals form. One of the utmost sought-after minerals that gather during this process is gold.

Burnt River Lane flows up the Burnt River at a steady rate of incline infrequently reaching a three to four percent grade. As you gently toil your way to Bridgeport, notice the large number of small bright yellow signs marking various federal mining claims. A variety of stories and finds make this area very intriguing to miners. One of the most notorious tales is that of the Blue Bucket.


The story of the Blue Bucket relates that in 1845, prior to the gold rush, a wagon train of lost pioneers were making their way west. At some point, three small children on the train became dissatisfied with their duty of collecting water and started collecting pretty rocks instead. The winsome trio returned to camp with a bucket of pebbles that a fellow traveler suggested might contain copper due to the color. Time pasted and the babbles were discarded or forgotten until 1848 when the country caught gold fever. By the time the pebbles were identified as gold nuggets, the location of the rock collecting expedition had been long forgotten.


Since that time, the search for the gold incrusted canyon has been endless and narrowed down to 40,000 square miles of rugged terrain of which the Burnt River Canyon is included. Linger to enjoy the canyon with its joyful numbers of falcons, hawks, eagles, geese and ducks until about mile 20. Exit into Bridgeport Valley. Glide past Clarks Creek Road that would take you to an older abandoned mining town to Bridgeport Lane.

Bridgeport Lane is paved and travels both west and south. Continue to coast south toward Bridgeport. There are a handful of ranch houses and an informative kiosk at the once booming mining, cattle and timber mecca. The end of the John Dooley’s toll road, Bridgeport, saw Chinese workers that dug miles of ditch to move the precocious water to sluice out gold and mill timbers, stage coach runs, gypsies, Native Americans and more.

The majority of the mining operations in the area had petered out by 1937, just scant years before the War Production Board passed order L-208. With order L-208 gold mining in the United States came to a screeching halt as mines were no longer able to purchase much needed supplies and machinery to facilitate their search of the unnecessary mineral. Miners, machinery and supplies were flung into the World War II war effort without recourse, many never returning or reopening.

Turn around at the Bridgeport kiosk and enjoy the slight undulating return to the former Express Ranch, Durkee, and the Durkee Valley. If you pull off the road to enjoy a wonderful snack, make sure to watch where you walk. Burnt River Canyon with its arid rocky terrain hosts a fair number of rattlesnakes and prickly plants.

Serious cyclist looking for an incredible day should link Old Highway 30 from Baker City with a travel down Burnt River Lane to Bridgeport Lane, then following Highway 245 up over Dooley Mountain and back to Baker City.

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