The tavern is considered representative of the stage coach inns and hostelries associated with the early roads and trails of Oregon. Built between 1868 and 1873, it served as a way station for stages traveling the California Stage Company's Portland to Sacramento line.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department acquired the tavern in 1975. Restoration, reflecting its character and evolution as a wayside inn from the 1870's to the present, began in 1977 and Wolf Creek Tavern reopened in 1979....