Frazier Pass

Return

Forest Service Trail #1947

Why? Fine views, but mostly because it connects East Fork Eagle Creek to the Minam River.

Season: Mid-July through September

Ease: Moderate. It’s almost 3 miles long with 1,000 feet up and 800 feet down, East Eagle to Minam direction. Frazier Pass sits almost exactly in the middle.

Though Frazier Pass will almost always be hiked as a means of getting from one place to another, it’s still a fine place in and of itself, another of those lovely Wallowa spots of rocks, clumps of trees, and high rocky ridges. And of course there are views. Not of spectacular peaks and the like, but of the basin at the top of the Minam River, below the Eagle Cap. A fine bowl, a place that once seen will draw you down into it.

Getting to the pass from East Eagle is work, but not that bad. After crossing East Eagle, the trail basically goes uphill, with switchbacks along the way and a steep bit at the end. The downhill has a couple of long traverses and a bunch of switchbacks, too. There’s a swampy area near the bottom with blazes on trees to help you find your way through. You cross the Minam, a small stream at this point, in a meadow and then connect with the trail along it on the other side.

Directions: The Frazier Pass trail is 2 miles south of Minam Lake on the Minam River Trail and 7 ½ miles up East Fork Eagle Creek.

Information: 2U.S. Forest Service Wallowa Mountains Visitors Services, Joseph, OR, (541) 426-5546.

Maps: USGS Eagle Cap, Oregon; Imus Geographics Wallowa Mountains, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon.

Connections: At the risk of being very redundant, the trail over Frazier Pass connects trails along East Eagle Creek and the Minam River.

Return