Back Off, Idaho! A Visitor's Guide to Eastern Oregon

A Cheat Sheet to Enjoying the Counties Voting for ‘Greater Idaho’

Without places like Burns and Baker City, Joseph and the Alvord Desert, Oregon just wouldn’t be Oregon.

Edited by Sam Stites September 4, 2023 Published in the Fall 2023 issue of Portland Monthly

You’ve surely heard that some residents of Eastern Oregon are requesting a divorce from Oregon. It’s known as the Greater Idaho movement, and it’s not a pipe dream: most counties in Eastern Oregon have already voted to look into leaving the state in an effort to reclaim their voice. As fans of the attractions of Eastern Oregon, we hightailed it out east to explore the landmarks that would disappear from our borders if the movement gains steam.

The region hosts a bustling tourism economy around dozens of ruggedly beautiful places such as the Alvord Desert, the Malheur National Forest, and the Wallowa Mountains, Oregon’s very own Alps. Out east, the sky is bigger, the stars are brighter, and—as long as you don’t utter words like “taxes” or “Tina Kotek”—the people aren’t so different from you and me.

Counties covering more than two-thirds of Oregon by land area have voted to investigate the feasibility of moving Idaho’s border west by 200 miles—that’s 12 of the 16 counties east of the Cascades. The movement to join Idaho is fueled by residents’ sense that their voices are not heard in Salem, as well as a general lack of understanding of different lifestyles and values between far-flung Oregon and the metropolitan area.

As for whether it will actually come to be, prepandemic we would’ve said, Not gonna happen. Now we’ll simply note that many hurdles exist. The ballot measure passed in Wallowa County by a mere seven votes. More substantially, moving a dozen counties to another state would require not only agreement between the two states’ legislatures, but the blessing of the US Congress as well.

Some Portlanders might be quick to say, Let ’em leave. But there’s much more to Eastern Oregon than beef cattle, hay, and potatoes—which are all vital products. There’s also a vibrant do-it-yourself ethos, a culture of hospitality, a unique triad of connecting visitors to nature and history, and just as many gorgeous landscapes as one state deserves. If these appreciations sound familiar, they should, because they’re reasons we love Portland, too.

We challenge you to visit just a few of the places that make Eastern Oregon unique and see for yourself why Oregon wouldn’t be Oregon without them.