In the Wallowas, you can look down from an alpine summit and see the high desert of Indian country roll out in front of you in one direction, and then turn around and see past Hells Canyon into the next state, and some say all the way past it to the next one after that.

You can hike or ride a horse to the summit, but the fastest way to the top is the gondola that rises 3,700 feet from Wallowa Lake Village to the peak of Mt. Howard.

You can and should bring the whole family. Cabins and camping and mini-golf abound around Wallowa Lake. Towns like Joseph and Enterprise offer art galleries, shopping and food and drink, including handcrafted beer, craft distilleries and chocolatiers.

And then there’s the land, carved by the Oregon Trail and hardly changed since pioneers crossed by wagon. It’s bordered by the Snake River, working ranches, the remote Eagle Cap Wilderness and the wide open spaces that Eastern Oregon is known for.

There are fields of fauna, as well as clearings, some of which became towns, a few of which are now inhabited only by ghosts.