Bates State Park is a 131 acres (53 ha) Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 state park in Grant County

Grant County, Oregon

Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the 8 county definition of Eastern Oregon. In 2010, its population was 7,445. It is named for President Ulysses S. Grant, who served as an army officer in the Oregon Territory, and at the time of the county's creation...

 near the city of Prairie City

Prairie City, Oregon

Prairie City is a city in Grant County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,080 at the 2000 census. The community was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on February 23, 1891.-History:...

. The park includes hiking trails, primitive RV and tent campsites, and a day use area for hikers and bicyclists.

History

The park is located on the Middle Fork John Day River

Middle Fork John Day River

The Middle Fork John Day River is a tributary of the North Fork John Day River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It originates in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon in the Malheur National Forest near Austin and flows generally west to the North Fork about above Monument...

, on the site of a former lumber mill that closed in 1975. The company town for the mill, Bates

Bates, Oregon

Bates is an unincorporated community in Grant County, Oregon, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office with a ZIP code of 97817.Bates was a lumber mill town until 1975 with a population of up to 400. Bates State Park opened in 2011....

, formerly had a population of about 400 on the site, but when the mill closed, the town slowly depopulated. The mill pond, one of the only remaining landmarks from the lumber mill era, is a central feature of the new park.

In 2008, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department , officially known as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks...

 purchased the property from the county for $407,000 and spent another $900,000 in preparing the park for its opening in September 2011. Several matching grants were used to continue to develop and maintain the park.

Features

Located at in the Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains (Oregon)

The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington...

, Bates State Park sits at 4070 feet (1,240.5 m) above sea-level. The park contains 28 primitive campsites for tents and RVs. In addition, there is a day use area for hiker and bicyclists, who use the area as part of the TransAmerica bicycle trail

Bikecentennial

Bikecentennial '76 was a bicycle tour across the United States in the summer of 1976, in commemoration of the bicentennial of America's Declaration of Independence. The route crossed ten states and 112 counties in either direction between Reedsport, OR, and Yorktown, VA, a distance of about...

. The day use area contains locations for picnicking and several miles of hiking trails are available. Interpretive panels describing the history of the town and the mill era are on display. The park is open from May to October.