The Meek Cutoff was a covered wagon road that branched off the Oregon Trail in northeastern  Oregon. First used in 1845, it left the main trail at Vale, Oregon, and followed the Malheur River to head into the Harney Basin. It then turned west towards Wagontire Mountain, and north to the south fork of the Crooked River where it split into two routes. Each path led to the Deschutes River. The two routes reunited north of where the Crooked River empties into the Deschutes and then continued to The Dalles, Oregon.