Exploring Oregon Caves: Above and Below

 

 The slogan on the brochure reads: Cool Cave, Warm Hearth!  It’s a clever turn of phrase but, more importantly, captures the concept that Oregon Caves National Monument offers two featured attractions, one natural and one man-made. The park is located about 50 miles southwest of Grants Pass off U.S. 199.  A narrow, winding road leaves the community of Cave Junction and the Illinois River Valley, and climbs upwards through the Siskiyou Mountains to the monument, about 20 miles.

Cave Entrance

The caves (actually, it is only one cave, but has numerous side passageways) were discovered by white settlers in 1874 when hunter Elijah Davidson’s dog, Bruno, followed a bear into a narrow opening in the hillside. However, the cave began life over 200 million years ago as a tropical reef in the Pacific Ocean, and by a series of complex geologic events, combined with years of water erosion and mineral deposits, evolved into one of the very few marble caves in the world.

Ranger-led tours through the cave are offered between late April and early November and cover a little over a half mile in 90 minutes. In this remarkable subterranean world, visitors are introduced to the geology,

The "Banana Grove"

history, wildlife, and view a variety of calcite formations: stalagtites, stalgmites, soda straws, moonmilk, popcorn. The trip is described as moderately strenuous and includes 500 stairs, some uneven and wet, as well as a few low and narrow passageways. The cave temperature is 44 degrees so a warm jacket is welcome even on a hot summer day.

Across from the cave entrance and Visitor Center sits the park’s man-made attraction, a rustic, wooden lodge known as The Chateau, a National Historic Landmark. From the entrance it appears to be a two-story structure with a steep pitched roof and dormer windows, however, it is actually six stories tall.  This unusual design reflects the challenging and limited building site it occupies, a ravine with a creek running through it.  Construction began in the early 1930s during the height of the Depression. Local contractor, Gust Lium, chose a style coined by Frank Lloyd Wright as “organic

The Chateau entrance

architecture,” promoting harmony with the environment and utilizing local construction materials. In the end, he created a building of natural charm and elegance, well adapted to its setting, with a great sense of place; a “green” structure long before it was eco-fashionable.

The exterior is covered with Port Orford cedar bark creating a shaggy, textured façade while the interior lobby features a massive, double marble fireplace; exposed wooden beams supported by 30-inch diameter, Douglas fir posts; and a staircase of local madrone, oak, and pine. Downstairs from the main lobby is the dining room, gift shop, and a 1930s diner-style café; 23 guest rooms occupy the two floors above the lobby.

waterfall and reflecting pool

One of the most unusual features of the building is the presence of the stream accumulated from dripping surface water inside the cave. There, it is called the River Styx, but once it emerges from the cavern it assumes the less intriguing name of Cave Creek, and flows over a man-made waterfall in front of the Chateau into a picturesque, reflecting pool. From there, it travels into the building, through the dining room, and then out to the canyon on its journey to the Illinois River. 

1930s Coffee Shop

This design plan had an unfortunate consequence in the winter of 1964 when heavy storms, snow and rain combined to release a flood and avalanche that ripped through the bottom floors of the Chateau creating a swath of structural damage and debris. While many considered the building an insurance write-off, others, including original builder Lium, worked tirelessly to save and restore the property.

Today, visitors can enjoy the charming ambiance of one of the Great Lodges of the National Parks from the attractive lobby, restaurant options, and inviting guest rooms.  Both the public and private rooms are decorated with the largest collection of Monterey furniture, a uniquely American, arts- and-crafts style characterized by leather and metal detailing, distressed wood, and painted designs.

Example of the Chateau's collection of Monterey furniture

Throughout the lodge, the emphasis is on local.  The gift shop offers crafts from southern Oregon artists including jewelry, prints, wooden items, jams, soaps, and textiles. In the dining room, the menu is filled with locally sourced meats, fish and produce.  (Be sure to try the bison meatloaf!) The quirky, retro café with its serpentine countertop serves hearty breakfasts, sandwiches, and old-fashioned milkshakes. Even the people waiting on you are local.

Learn more about a visit to Oregon Caves or make reservations for a stay at the Chateau by visiting these websites: Oregon Caves Cheateau and Oregon Caves National Monument.

 

 

 

 

John Day Fossil Beds: An Oregon Treasure

As you drive through Eastern Oregon passing miles of arid, sagebrush covered hills, it is difficult to imagine the landscape was once a lush subtropical forest filled with banana, cashew, and fig trees and the home to rhinos, saber-toothed tigers, and pigs as big as buffalos. Millions of years ago, the region received over 100-inches of rainfall annually; today, only 14. How scientists know these facts and what happened to create such drastic changes are some of the stories that unfold at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Located about 75 miles east of Bend in the John Day River Basin, the park consists of three units covering 14,000 acres. The fossil beds are some of the richest in the world and present an almost continuous 40-million years of flora and fauna. Their importance as a paleontological site led Congress to designate the area a national monument in 1975.

Condon Paleontology Center

A good place to begin a visit is the Sheep Rock Unit home to the new Thomas Condon Paleontology Center. Condon, a missionary pastor in The Dalles, had a strong interest in geology and was the first to explore and catalog fossils in the region in the 1860s. Half of the building bearing his name serves as a research center drawing scientists from all over, while the other half houses an excellent interpretive center. Using murals, actual fossils discovered in the John Day Basin, and other artifacts, the museum shows the evolving landscape from tropical to grassland to hardwood forest; the geologic events that triggered these changes; and the types of plants and animals that inhabited the land over the past 50-million years. A window in the lobby allows visitors to observe paleontologists working on fossil specimens.

James Cant Ranch House

Across the road from the center is the James Cant Ranch House, a former sheep ranch dating back to the early 1900s when wool was an important commodity in central Oregon. Exhibits tell the history of human settlement in the area from Native Americans to livestock ranchers.  Rooms look as they did 60-years ago, some with original furniture. Short trails lead to the John Day River and Sheep Rock Overlook offering a great view of the valley and the looming Sheep Rock Mountain. A short distance south of the center is the spectacular Picture Gorge on Route 26 and, to the north, is the Blue Basin where interpretive trails extend into the blue-green canyons.

Clarno Unit formations

In the Clarno Unit, about 20 miles from the town of Fossil, towering rocky pillars look more like they belong somewhere in the southwestern United States than in Oregon.  These cliffs of the Clarno Palisades were formed 40 million years ago when volcanic mud flows buried a forested landscape. Interpretive signs explain the volcanic action that created this environment, and the fossils of plants and animals trapped in time. From the picnic area, the short Trail of Fossils follows the base of the Palisades and provides a close up view of plant fossils in the rocks along the way.

By far, the most spectacular and colorful unit of the park is the Painted Hills area near the town of Mitchell. Here the bare, rolling hills are striped in vivid bands of gold, red, brown and black created by layers of volcanic ash containing different minerals. Over time, the ash was compacted and chemically changed into the colorful claystone of today. Two short walks in the unit are absolute musts.

 The Painted Hills Overlook trail is an easy walk along a ridge offering a variety of scenic vistas of the hills.

Painted Cove Trail

The nearby Painted Cove Trail provides a fascinating close-up examination of the textured, colorful hillocks.

Since the park’s units are separated by nearly 90 miles, it is wise to plan an overnight stay in the area. Towns and shade are few and far between so plan ahead and bring plenty of sunscreen and water.