Bates State Park, State park in eastern Oregon, United States.
Bates State Park is a state park in eastern Oregon covering about 130 acres in the Blue Mountains. Multiple hiking trails run through the property, following the Middle Fork John Day River, Bridge Creek, and Clear Creek as they cut through the landscape.
The site held a lumber mill that closed in 1975, and the company town of Bates, with about 400 residents, slowly depopulated afterward. In 2008 the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department bought the property from the county for $407,000 and spent $900,000 preparing it. The park opened in September 2011, with matching grants supporting later development.
Former residents of the Bates mill town contributed to preserving the area's heritage through interpretive panels depicting life in the early 20th century.
The park offers around 28 primitive campsites for tents and RVs, plus six additional spots for hikers and cyclists available from May through October. Visitors should expect basic amenities and note that camping options fill quickly during summer months.
The mill pond at the centre of the park is one of the few surviving landmarks of the lumber era, left behind when the Bates mill closed in 1975. The company town that housed about 400 people slowly emptied after the shutdown. Interpretive panels now describe both the town and the mill years.
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