Whose fault is it?

Crack in the Ground belongs to all of us. Located on a tract administered by the Bureau of Land Management north of Christmas Valley, Crack in the Ground is a little-known public treasure, a clear-cut example of what these common geologic features look like.

This particular fissure is 70 feet deep in places and spiders about two miles before continuing northeast and southwest in much less dramatic fashion.

It’s unusual in that it’s clearly visible from the surface; you can walk right down into it and experience this fault up close. Most faults such as this are filled with dirt and rock, but because Crack in the Ground is in such a dry area, it hasn’t filled in.

Crack in the Ground is believed to have formed over time during numerous earthquakes when the rock was displaced a little each time. From the parking area, walk up the path across the road and you’ll see the crack to the left and right. I climbed down in to the right and picked my way south a ways, mindful that the ice along the bottom, which sometimes persists well into the summer, is slick and a bit treacherous. Early day homesteaders are said to have stored food inside Crack in the Ground.

You can either go as far as you can and climb out there or return the way you came.

A good pair of hiking boots is recommended; the lava is sharp.

To reach Crack in the Ground from Bend, head south on U.S. Highway 97, then turn left on to State Highway 31 just south of La Pine. Past Silver Lake, turn left at the Christmas Valley turnoff. Drive 14 miles to Christmas Valley, then turn right and go east on Christmas Valley Road. Turn left on to Forest Road 6109. Crack in the Ground is about six miles up the gravel road on the right.

On the road again, Green Mountain is just a few miles farther north. There’s a fire lookout there (unmanned in the winter months) and a magnificent view in all directions. Green Mountain is actually a small shield volcano that erupted shortly after Crack in the Ground began forming.

From the lookout, which sits at 5,190 feet above sea level, you can see the Christmas and Fort Rock valleys as well as Diamond Peak 70 miles to the west and Wagontire Mountain 50 miles east.

While you’re in the vicinity, why not visit another geologic oddity: Hole in the Ground. It involves a detour off the highway on the way home, but it’s not far (see map).

Hole in the Ground is a 300 foot indentation that formed when molten lava hit water, initiating a huge explosion that created a massive crater. Astronauts trained here in 1966 to simulate a moonscape.

There’s food and gas in Christmas Valley. Christmas Valley is rural Lake County’s fastest growing community. It’s also the newest, founded in 1961.

Other points of interest hereabout include Derrick Cave, a spacious lava tube 22 miles north of Fort Rock; Fossil Lake, site of an ancient deep-water basin two miles east of Christmas Valley; and Lost Forest, a 9,000-acre stand of ponderosa pines and old growth junipers in an area that gets far less rainfall than it normally takes to sustain tree growth. Lost Forest is 10 miles northeast of Christmas Valley on a passable but sketchy road.

– Jim Witty