Country United States Time zone Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) | Elevation 3,189 ft (972 m) Area code(s) 458 and 541 | |
![]() | ||
Rye Valley is an unincorporated community in Baker County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies along Dixie Creek, a tributary of the Burnt River, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Baker City. It is slightly west of Interstate 84 near Weatherby and Dixie.
The community is named for a native grass used as forage for pack animals important to the region's immigrants and miners in the 1860s. A Rye Valley post office opened on September 27, 1869, and operated intermittently between then and September 14, 1935. Nayson S. Whitcomb was the first postmaster.
On July 24, 2014, a wildfire started by lightning happened in Rye Valley. The lightning first struck on Bureau of Land Management lands; however, winds quickly drove it onto forestlands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry. The fire took three days to fully contain.