Pendleton
Heritage District · Pendleton, Oregon
A wheat and cattle town on the Umatilla River in north-eastern Oregon, and the one place in the state whose name is known internationally for two unrelated reasons: the rodeo and the blankets. The Pendleton Round-Up has run in the second full week of September since 1910 and brings roughly 50,000 people to a city of 17,000. Pendleton Woolen Mills has woven here since 1909, and the trade blankets it makes for Native customers are the reason the name is recognised far beyond Oregon. Beneath the street grid is a network of basement passages and rooms from the Chinese quarter and the Prohibition years, now open as a guided tour.
South Main Street, Pendleton, Oregon, 97801, United States
The town is open year round. Pendleton Woolen Mills runs free tours on weekdays only, not at weekends. The Pendleton Underground Tour runs on a set schedule with limited places and should be booked ahead in summer. The Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame is free and keeps seasonal hours. ⚠ THE PENDLETON ROUND-UP OCCUPIES THE SECOND FULL WEEK OF SEPTEMBER, when lodging for a hundred miles is booked out months ahead and the character of the town changes completely.