Road Trip! Fort Rock, Crack in the Ground: Oregon Must See / Must Do

Road trip!

Our adventure begins early! It takes about an hour and a half to reach the 'Fort'. There is excellent signage at the park's entrance. From there we'll go exploring.

Fort Rock is a tuff ring located on an ice age lake bed in north Lake County. The ring is about 4,460 feet (1,360 m) in diameter and stands about 200 feet (60 m) high above the surrounding plain. Its name is derived from the tall, straight sides that resemble the palisades of a fort. The region of Fort Rock-Christmas Lake Valley Basin contains about 40 such tuff rings and maars and is located in the Brothers Fault Zone of Central Oregon's Great Basin. William Sullivan, an early settler in the area, named Fort Rock in 1873 while searching for lost cattle.

Our next stop will be "Crack in the Ground" ~ a volcanic fissure about 2 miles long with depths measuring nearly 30 feet below ground level. The formation of the fissure occurred approximately between 700,000 and 12,000 years ago. The eruptions from the Four Craters Lava Field were accompanied by a slight sinking of the older rock surface, forming a shallow, graben-like structure about 2 miles wide and extending to the south into an old lake basin. Crack in the Ground marks the western edge of this small, volcano-tectonic depression. The crack is the result of a tension fracture along a hinge line produced by the draping of Green Mountain lava flows over the edge of upthrown side of the concealed fault zone. The fissure is located at the southwest corner of Four Craters Lava Field.

Here, we can walk the length of the main crack and explore its tributaries. The trail to the fissure is relatively short. But--the road is largely washboard.

Afterward, we'll debrief at the Ol' Watering Hole.

What to bring? Hiking boots, water, snacks. Also, it's 20 degrees cooler down in the crack). If you have any old gloves bring them. I'll update the weather conditions as we get closer.

I need a few drivers to volunteer their vehicles. You will all chip in a couple of bucks for gas.

The end time is approximate.