Grand Ronde is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Polk and Yamhill counties, Oregon, United States.

For this purpose the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation was opened on June 30, 1857, covering 60,000 acres in northwest Polk and southwest Yamhill counties.

[7] According to a Cultural Resources Report from the Oregon Department of Transportation, [citation needed] the town of Grand Ronde began as "New Grand Ronde" in about 1908 when the first large groups of Indians were leaving the Reservation and establishing their own farms and ranches under the Dawes Act.

The railroad helped the timber industry to flourish and made it possible for lumber mills to grow and dominate the economy of the area.

Grand Ronde became the center of support services for mill workers and a train depot, store, hotel, movie theater, diner, gas station, bank, post office, church, and a small residential area were built.

The Spaulding-Miami Lumber Company created and owned the town proper in the early 1920s as part of its logging operations.

[8] The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community own and operate Spirit Mountain Casino, which is a major local employer.

Initially, the State was calling for the town to be officially named "Grande Ronde" using the typical French spelling, (possibly due to the history of French Canadian fur trapping in the area via the Hudson Bay Company), though through research and correspondence lasting into the early 1940s, the name as spelled currently, "Grand Ronde", was made official.

The poorly drained soils derived from glacio-lacustrine deposits are extensively farmed for grass seed and small grains.

Grand Ronde is located in the Oregon Coast Range, which is one of the wettest places in the contiguous United States.

[14] Additionally, precipitation at Laurel Mountain, located about 9 miles (14 km) to the southeast and further up in the Oregon Coast Range, comes down at an average rate of 121.48 inches (3,086 mm) per year.