Historic Sumpter Dredge

05/30/2021

A beautiful day this Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend as we think of those who fought and died for our freedom in this great country. We hope you make it a wonderful day with family and friends wherever you may be.

04/01/2021

Looks like the Visitor Center and the Park will be open May 1st!! We will be following OHA and CDC guidelines to keep visitors and staff safe and healthy.

Help us spread the word.

We hope you will come see us this summer! Travel safe and be well.

P.S. Rumor has it the Sumpter Flea Market will take place Memorial Day weekend :-)

02/19/2021

Hey everyone, good morning.

Check this out on YouTube!

Sterling Haunts an Abandoned Gold Mining Operation | Sumpter Dredge | On Location SNACKS

10/11/2020

It is fall in the Elkhorn Mountains and Halloween is just around the corner. We missed you all this season, as Covid kept us from opening the entire 2020 season. However, a new year is close and May 1, 2021 will be here before we know it.

We wish you all a safe and fun Halloween (peaceful protest, LOL). Be safe and stay well. Joe Bush, resident ghost of the Dredge, thinks it will be a spooktacular evening of the Blue Moon!

The next Blue Moon in 2020 will appear on October 31. This moon will be the second of two full moons to occur in a single calendar month, hence it will be called a blue moon. According to this definition the last Blue Moon took place on March 31, 2018. The next Blue Moon will come on October 31, 2020 and will be called a Blue Moon.

How wonderfully Halloween is that??

08/08/2020

Hello everyone! Was up visiting the Dredge today, checking on the Visitor Center, and was happy to see all is well. Though it saddens my heart that we cannot greet all the visitors due to the Covid closure, we are happy indeed to see visitors are still coming to walk the tailings and see the Dredge.

We are also happy to see donations from these visitors. Thank you so very much for helping us keep the heat on this coming winter, as we are not adding to the coffers this summer season. As the non-profit we are, we rely on the sales and donations through the season to keep us viable until the next. As of today, we see no opening yet this season.

A big shout out to all of you that have shared with us this summer! May you stay healthy and well. We hope to see all of you in 2021!

06/20/2020

We met with Road’s End Films at the Dredge to share the history of dredging in the Sumpter valley. Great fun and always a pleasure to see the awe and appreciation of the Dredge.

Carey and Sterling will have something to share with us soon. In the meantime, take a look at their website to see some of the work the company has done in the past.

As an aside, no news yet on a possible re-opening date. We hope we will see at least a partial season, but in the meantime, the park itself is open.

Take care, stay safe, and if you travel this summer be sure to make the Dredge part of your itinerary.

Professional film studio producing award winning independent feature films, television series, documentaries and new media entertainment. Located near Portland Oregon.

05/25/2020

It feels odd, this being the first Memorial Day Weekend I haven’t been working at the Visitor Center in 7 years. Wish we could share some old pics and videos from the past, but our page was hacked and we no longer have access. Such a shame. Nonetheless, we wish all of you a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Hopefully we will see you in June or July. Enjoy the beginnings of summer!

05/09/2020

It looks as though OPRD will open the Park for access to the trails and a more structured way to tour the Dredge itself. However, the Visitor Center remains closed until further notice.

Continue social distancing when you visit the park. We will prevail eventually! In the meantime, please stay safe and well.

03/22/2020

Hello everyone! Hopefully those of you that can are hunkered down during this pandemic. We sincerely hope all of you, your families, friends and loved ones are well. As you know Oregon State Parks has closed all visitor centers, campgrounds, and events. We do not know if our normal May 1 open date will happen, but we hope so. In the meantime, we will do as asked and maintain our social distancing. Our thoughts are with all of you.

11/09/2019

There my be no snow today, but there was definitely ice in the pond. Gorgeous day at the Dredge this Saturday morning.

11/02/2019

Well, the season is over for another year and we exceeded expectations, even though it didn’t start out too well. We had hired someone who did not work out and let the Visitor Center become an afterthought. Thank goodness she left in mid May so we could save the season.

She also stole our page, Friends of the Dredge, changed it’s name and now illegitimately has every picture, video, and communication the Friends group has had since we started that page in August 2010. So, please know we are working on getting what belongs to us back, and in the interim we have this new page to keep us moving forward.

Enjoy the holidays, stay safe, and be sure to come see us next season, May 1, 2020. And, above all, THANK YOU for your continued support of the official Friends of the Sumpter Valley Dredge page, as well as the website

Rich in mining history, Sumpter, Oregon boasts impressive trail access, several nearby ghost towns, and one massive testament to the mining heritage of Northeast Oregon. Gateway to the Blue Mountains Sumpter, a small town buried deep in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon, ...

10/29/2019

Here re a few more pictures of the Trunk or Treat last Saturday evening.

A delightfully frightful weekend in Sumpter for the annual Sumpter Valley Railroad's Halloween Train and haunted dredge tours and Trunk Or Treating at the Sumpter Dredge State Park.