Oregon Map

Central Eastern Desert

Grant and Baker Counties

Central Eastern Desert

Grant and Baker Counties

This vast area is larely empty of humans except that it has I-84 slicing through it on its way from La Grand to Boise. The only significant population center is Baker City and it has under ten thousand people. When I was a kid we just called the place "Baker" but in 1989 "city" became part of the name again (they had dropped it in 1911). Around 1900 Baker City was the most important urban area between Salt Lake City and Portland, but they just couldn't keep up. Boise ran right past them. Elevations in the central eastern desert are all 3,500 ft and more above sea level. For comparison the Willamette valley lies mostly between 100 and 400 ft above sea level.