homestead village museum

The best thing about it is that it's in the middle of nowhere. And like many museums that are in the middle of nowhere, it is not flooded with traffic, so you can actually go inside the houses, sit down on the chairs, touch, be right in the middle of it, and feel as if you traveled in time. When we walked in, a nice guy in the office told us that this was a "Hands on museum, feel free to touch, open drawers, explore". This made it much easier for our teenagers to stomach a dreaded museum side trip. The only other time we've had a similar experience was in an remote castle in Eastern Europe. Almost everywhere else you are only allowed to peek from behind the glass or a barrier.The whole area is not very big, but it contains about a dozens houses, a church, a store, a doctor's office, a workshop, a school, and even a good old traditional outhouse: a very representative and well rounded assembly.The tickets were very reasonable too: if memory serves me well $4 adults and $2 kids under 17.If you are a photography buff you will get a chance to take quite a few interesting pictures.Finally, there is a lot more to see in the area. Fort Rock State park is across the street. Also, google Hole in the Ground (best visited with an 4WD vehicle), and Crack in the Ground.

Great outdoor museum with a re-creation of what a homestead and the villages that sprang from the homesteads looked like.

If you find yourself anywhere near this out of the way outdoor museum, GO! Anyone that wanders that far off the beaten track is looking for the authentic, not the flashy, and that describes this place perfectly. A collection of early 20th century buildings, lovingly collected from all over the valley and re located in one spot, they paint a unique and vibrant portrait of folks who were self sufficient but not poor, down to the earth but not uneducated. If you have a day or so, there are many fascinating natural wonders in the area, including Ft. Rock itself, Hole in the Ground, the Lost Forest and the Ft. Rock cave (accessible with a state guide only).