Most people will think you're being funny if you tell them you went to see
Crack In The Ground. My sister drove us out there and we enjoyed the ride because it was so interesting to see all that can be done in the high desert with deep well irrigation. When we got to Crack In The Ground Road we were still laughing and kidding her about going there. We traveled three and a half miles more on that gravel road before we got to the parking lot and the only indication that something interesting was nearby was the presence of a portable toilet next to the parking lot. Then we got out and followed the path across the street for another quarter of a mile into a very isolated place. We felt a little more confident when we met other people on the path who were going to see it also.
Fortunately, she had been there before and just ignore us. We came across an animal feeding station and I thought it might be a sign with information because she wasn't quite sure where it was. To the left I could see some rock formation that looked like two thirty foot high walls of solid rock with a path going through the middle. That wasn't it. I was not prepared for what I was about to see.
We walked about ten feet in the direction of that rock formation and she said "Oh, there it is." We noticed an opening to the right that looked like the entrance to a root cellar and she led us down into it. We followed a path between two walls of solid rock that kept going down, deeper and deeper. We kept walking hoping to find the end. It went on for two miles. When we looked up we could see we were seventy feet down in this crack in the ground. The temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit at the bottom of the crack. It was about 75 degrees on the surface of the ground above. The crack was the result of volcanic action thousands of years ago. Scientists believe molten lava formed a two mile bed of rock and then cooled. Then another layer of molten lava covered the first layer and the heat cause the crack. The walls were wavy near the bottom of the crack. If the walls were to go back together they would fit perfectly.
To get there from Rt97 in central Oregon, take Rt31E to Fort Rock Road. Continue on to Christmas Valley. Follow signs with the words "tour route".
From journal The High Desert