About this place
This trailhead opens onto three trails: Chief Joseph Mountain Trail #1803, the East Fork Wallowa Trail #1804 and the West Fork Wallowa Trail #1820. All three reach the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
A bridge has washed out and the water in BC Creek runs high. The Chief Joseph Trail is most likely reached from the southwest corner of the Wallowa Lake Marina parking area.
Half a mile from the trailhead there are horse rentals, a State Park, restaurants, lodging and picnic facilities. Outfitter and guide services are close by too.
There is a loading ramp and there are hitchrails.
Wildflowers grow along the trails nearby. Mountain bluebells, forget-me-nots, paintbrush and columbine.
There is fishing near Six Mile Meadows, where the river slows down a little.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Toilet
- No
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Wallowa Whitman National Forest
Rules and restrictions
This site sits inside the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Wilderness is a legal label with rules attached, and the main rule is that machinery stays out.
Getting there
Coordinates 45.267072, -117.212980
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
There is another spot of ours within reach, and some better-known places further out.
- Mount Howard Directions
- Sacajawea Peak Directions
- Aneroid Mountain Directions
- Eagle Cap Directions
- Wallowa & Grande Ronde Wild and Scenic Rivers Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Wallowa Lake, OR Directions
- Joseph, OR Directions
Joseph is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Forest Service’s own records, read in August 2026.