BUSINESS
Wallowa County Chieftain
A6
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
RimRock Inn reopens after being closed for a year
BIZZ
BUZZ
What: Lodging, dining
Who: Cabot and Kim
Carlston
By Bill Bradshaw
Where: 83471 Lewiston
Highway, between turn-
off to Flora and milepost
10
Canyon overlook
draws guests
from far away
For sale
When: Dinner Thurs-
day-Sunday, 5-7 p.m.
(reservations only); lodg-
ing available Memorial
Day-Labor Day
F
LORA — After
being closed for a
year, the RimRock
Inn near Flora reopened
this past weekend for a
unique lodging and dining
experience — unique even
for Wallowa County.
“A lot of the locals rec-
ommend it to the tour-
ists,” said co-owner Cabot
Carlston during an inter-
view Thursday, June 16.
“They’ve had the TG (Ter-
minal Gravity) or they’ve
eaten at the lake. They’ve
looked up at the moun-
tains — the Wallowas are
there, the Eagle Cap’s
there. It’s great, but this is
just a different vibe, a dif-
ferent view.”
The experience Rim-
Rock offers is a bit differ-
ent, Carlston said.
“It’s canyonlands, in
the mountains. I’d been
coming (to the county)
for 15 years — Hurricane
Creek, Lostine Canyon,
the lake, and I’d never
come out here for 15
years,” he said. “Finally,
we came out here and
I was like, it’s cool out
here. So we came out
here and had a steak din-
ner and saw the tepees and
thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this
is awesome. We could stay
in a tepee.’ And then we
were talking to someone
cially known as the “hon-
eymoon tepee,” Carlston
said. Officially, it’s the
Appaloosa Tepee, while
the others are the Bison
and Dreamcatcher tepees.
RIMROCK INN
Phone: Dinner 541-880-
6806; lodging 541-398-
2221
Email: kunahcat@aol.
com
Online: www.rimrockore-
gon.com
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Cabot Carlston, co-owner of the RimRock Inn near Flora, opens the smoke fl ap on one of three
tepees at the inn Thursday, June 16, 2022.
in town and learned the
place was for sale, so we
bought it a year later.”
‘God’s country’
Normally open from
Memorial Day Weekend
to Labor Day Weekend,
the weather slowed this
year’s opening.
“It’s a good thing we
didn’t open Memorial Day
because it’s been raining
ever since,” Carlston said.
He said he had guests
booked for this past week-
end and is usually full all
summer long.
“Of course, it’s going
to rain again,” he laughed.
But the unique setting
atop an overlook to Joseph
Creek Canyon is one of
the inn’s greatest draws.
“This is God’s coun-
try. Carved right out of the
rocks,” he said, looking at
the geological formations
of the canyon.
He pointed out a windy
ranch road to the bottom
of the canyon that he said
is mostly used by ATVs
and horses.
A short hike about 20
minutes from inn gives
guests a grand view not
only of the canyon, but of
much of Wallowa County.
“Once you get to the
edge, you can see the river
more clearly and the cool
thing is you can see Zum-
walt Prairie and the snow-
capped Wallowa Moun-
tains,” he said. “It’s the
best view of the canyon-
lands I know of.”
Carlston also empha-
sized the wildlife, both
flora and fauna. Deer are
regulars at the inn and
they see a few elk. He said
they’ve seen one bear and
even found a cougar skull.
“There’s fish in that
creek, but no fishermen,”
he laughed. “I just love
the ruggedness of it. Look
at the cliffs.”
Carlston is fond of the
many species of wildflow-
ers in the area.
“I’ve identified 22 dif-
ferent wildflower spe-
cies out here and every
year’s different,” he said.
“This year, we have more
prairie smoke than usual.
A few years ago, it was
more larkspur. Everything
depends on the tempera-
ture and the rain, I guess.”
Gourmet dining
and lodging
After enjoying the
scenery, guests can come
in for a gourmet dinner.
He’s the cook, assisted by
son, Tristan.
Guests are treated to
coffee from 7:30 a.m. and
breakfast at 8 a.m. They
can order dinner from 5 to
7 p.m., as can nonguests
who call in reservations.
For lodging, the inn
has one indoor suite, three
tepees and a trailer. One
of the tepees, with its pri-
vate parking, is unoffi-
& Skylight
Gallery
After enjoying operat-
ing the inn since 2016, the
Carlstons are putting it on
the market.
Built in 1940, the inn
was originally known as
Canter’s Inn. Then it was
sold to Loren and Wilma
Raymond, who sold it to
Rahn and Becky Hostetter,
Carlston said.
Now, he and Kim have
decided to sell.
“I can’t afford two
mortgages and a busi-
ness lease,” he said, refer-
ring to the inn, his wife’s
boutique and the business
lease in downtown Ash-
land. “We only opened
our business in Ashland
because we thought we
sold this place.”
But selling has been
difficult.
“It’s hard to sell
because it’s zoned timber
and grazing — mixed use
— but it has a kitchen, so
any bank or lender says,
‘restaurant’ and they’re
not lending to restaurants
because they’ve had bad
experiences with restau-
rants because of COVID,”
he said. “So we’re trying
to find somebody who has
cash so we don’t have to
deal with bankers.”
———
Bill Bradshaw is a
reporter for the Wallowa
County Chieftain. Have a
business tip? Contact him
at 541-398-5503 or bbrad-
shaw@wallowa.com.
Church
Directory
Finding books is
our specialty
CLUES ACROSS
1 Bear feet
5 Purple flower, perhaps
9 What an arbor provides
14 Bickering
15 Cranny’s partner
16 Knighthood, e.g.
17 Family room seat
18 Board game involving
sleuthing
19 Person full of tribal
knowledge
20 Misrepresent something,
say
23 Word before “ball” or
“stick”
24 Pro at filing taxes
25 Ocasek of the Cars
28 Misrepresent something,
say
34 Rock with metal
35 Korean carmaker
36 Stoner’s joint
37 Gracefully flexible
40 Ale tap’s site
42 Like Odin and Thor
43 Long gone cold period
45 One of the Bobbsey
twins
47 Blot substance
48 Misrepresent something,
say
52 Didn’t stand for
something?
53 A white one is very
formal
54 For each
55 Be first to report
something ... or what
people may do if they
20-, 28- or 48-Across?
61 Reason for a beef recall
64 Hard to come by
65 Clarinet relative
66 Find the total of
67 Over again
68 With 44-Down, body of
water by Buffalo
69 App’s audience members
70 Drivers’ aids?
71 Like blue hair
Joseph United
Methodist Church
Grace Lutheran
Church
3rd & Lake St. • Joseph
409 West Main - Enterprise
10 AM Worship
Online AND In Person
SUNDAY
WORSHIP
For More Info
541-432-3102
JosephUMC.ORG
at 9am
Pastor Cherie Dearth
Pastor John B. King Jr
phone (message): 541-426-4633
web: gracelutheranenterprise.com
Enterprise
Christian Church
St.
St. Patrick’s
Patrick’s
Episcopal
Church
Episcopal Church
85035 Joseph Hwy • (541) 426-3449
We have ‘In-person worship” @ 9:00 am
(Guidelines observed)
Sunday School at 10:30
Parking Lot Radio/Facebook @ 9:00
100 NE 3rd St, Enterprise
NE 3rd & Main St
541-426-3439
Worship Service
Sunday 9:30am
David Bruce
Pastor, Enterprise Christian Church
Lostine
Presbyterian Church
Summit Church
Discussion Group 9:30 AM
Worship Service 11:00 AM
at the Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise
Childrens program during service
Blog: dancingforth.blogspot.com
CLUES DOWN
1 Don’t fail
2 Situated over
3 Internet connection at a hotel
4 Position for a golfer
5 Under control
6 Part in a play
7 Poker players’ paper promises
8 Line drawing?
9 Hotel chain owned by Marriott
10 Worthy of worship
11 “So ...?”
12 Buck’s counterpart
13 Make a wrong turn, maybe
21 “Tsk”
22 Column with a point?
25 Set of criteria for grading
26 “That’s not the case!”
27 Places for quick kisses
28 Ice and snow, but not rain
29 One of Pat Nixon’s daughters
30 Makeup exam
31 Large ball-and-socket joint
32 Make fun of
33 Bouncing baby in Hundred Acre
Wood
38 Panama, e.g.
39 They’re all about you
41 Grouch’s exclamation
44 See 68-Across
46 Jacob and Esau, to Ishmael
49 Rip into
50 Lawyer’s charge
51 Traitor Benedict
55 Put out of focus
56 “Citizen” in a 1941 film
57 Apple or orange source
58 Website with auctions
59 Socially aware
60 Kernel, for one
61 It flows in the Seine
62 Savings options: Abbr.
63 Laudatory poem
107 E. Main • Enterprise • 541-426-3351
www.bookloftoregon.com
Sundays at 10 am
Pastor: David Pendleton
541.398.0597
Hwy 82, Lostine
www.summitchurchoregon.org
Stephen Kliewer, Minister
Cloverleaf Hall • 668 NW 1st St. • Enterprise, OR 97828
Wallowa
Assembly
of God
702 West Hwy 82
Wallowa, Oregon
541-886-8445
Sunday School • 9:am
Worship Service • 10:am
Pastor Tim Barton
Visit Us on
Seventh-Day Adventist
Church & School
Christ Covenant
Church
Pastor Terry Tollefson
Church Office: 541-263-0505
Family Prayer - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:00 AM
723 College Street, Lostine
Enterprise Community
Congregational Church
Join us at the
BIG BROWN CHURCH
305 Wagner (near the Cemetery)
P.O. Box N. Enterprise, OR 97828
Church 541-426-3751
School 541-426-8339
Pastor David Ballard 503-810-9886
Sunday Worship 11:00 am
Bible Study:
Sundays, 9:30 am
Worship Hour
Interim Pastor Rev Dr. Craig Pesti-Strobel
10:30 a.m. - Noon
301 NE First St. • Enterprise, OR
Find us on Facebook! 541.426.3044