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BAKER CITY, Ore. -- The Bureau of Land Management’s National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center will be offering insights into pioneers’ lives along the trail throughout November.

Admission to the center is free to all through the end of 2020. Center hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday each week. The center is closed Monday through Wednesday.

Daily programming includes “Oregon Fever!” with descriptions of various emigrant experiences on the trail at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and the opportunity to discuss life on the trail during Trail Talk at noon.

A special traveling exhibit, “Timber Culture,” will open Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Flagstaff Gallery, offering an inclusive look at Oregon’s multicultural logging industry. Learn about the lives of loggers and their families drawn together from different cultures during the great migration.

The center will be closed Thursday, Nov. 26, in observance of Thanksgiving, but will resumes its regular schedule Friday, Nov. 27, with a special Family Fun Day. This free event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with COVID-safe activities for all ages, including charades, a touchless scavenger hunt, pioneer games, music and more.

The center’s pet-friendly 4.2-mile trail system is open seven days a week, offering waystations and interpretive signage, intersecting the ruts of the original Oregon Trail at several points. Users should be aware that trails are not plowed or de-iced. Visitors can also access the ruts from a roadside pullout on Hwy. 86 leading to an easy 180-foot trail.

While visiting, we strongly encourage all visitors to make smart decisions and follow Centers for Disease Control and State of Oregon guidance to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. These measures include:

• Practice social distancing by maintaining two wagon wheels (6 feet) between you and others visiting the center.
• Wear cloth face coverings, like bandanas, where social distancing is difficult (except for those who are under age 2 or have trouble breathing).
• Wash your hands often. While you’re outdoors, use hand sanitizers.
• Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Most importantly, stop the wagon train and stay at home if you don’t feel well.

The center is located just outside Baker City, Ore. Take Exit 302 from Interstate 84 onto Oregon Highway 86 eastbound for five miles. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.