Ghost Towns of Eastern Oregon: Shaniko, Antelope, Friend and Clarno

     Our family headed east this week in search of a different type of ghost. Our goal this trip, to locate several ghost towns. So we loaded up the SUV and took off for Maupin, OR.

     In Maupin, we stayed at The Oasis, a series of cabins which were used for railroad construction in the early 1900's.

Here is one of the cabins

what our cabin looked like on the inside

   
     There wasn't much to the cabins: a tiny table, refrigerator, and a bitty little bathroom.  But the cabin was heated, and if you sat in just the right place, you could get wifi.

     The first ghost town we went searching for was Bakeoven. Along the way we found this tiny cemetery. 

Buzan Cemetery

 
    We continued east until we found Bakeoven. I must admit, we were slightly disappointed. There wasn't much to see at Bakeoven, just an old barn and a small building next to it.

Bakeoven

        From Bakeoven, we drove to Shaniko. Shaniko isn't exactly a ghost town, there is a sparse population of about 35 people. The town consists of both abandoned buildings and restored buildings. 

Shaniko School

I love this old truck parked out in a field

Shaniko Hotel

bank

various building in Shaniko

Paddy wagon

church

remains of a wagon

     Outside of Shaniko, along the road, we found a couple more interesting buildings.

House out in a field

looks like an old school house

old building next to the school house

The remains of a mattress within the building

    The next town we visited was Antelope. Antelope is another town that has a small population with many abandoned buildings. 

small building in Antelope

abandoned school. The rusting playground makes me ache

beautiful church in Antelope

Old firetruck parked by the school

     East of Antelope is a tiny ghost town called Clarno. Again, there wasn't much to the town. Just an old grange and an abandoned school that was on private property.

old bridge entering Clarno

Clarno Grange

Old Clarno school

     Near Maupin is the White River Falls State Park. It's a beautiful place with an amazing waterfall and an abandoned dam.

White River Falls

Remains of the dam

part of the old dam

      The final ghost town  we visited had the happy name of Friend, Oregon. Again, we drove a long distance to find only a few buildings. But this was the most "ghostish" of the ghost towns we found.

abandoned school in Friend

The school had an outhouse

abandoned building in Friend

Loved the windmill

abandoned store at Friend 

old building at Friend

old tractor near a barn in Friend.

     We had a wonderful time searching for ghost towns. Unfortunately, time ran out before our enthusiasm did. I can't wait to head east again in search of more!