CRACK-IN-THE-GROUND - HIKING OREGON WITH KIDS
Crack in the Ground is hands down, one of the coolest southern Oregon adventures we have ever taken! Crack in the Ground is a volcanic fissure that is over two miles long and up to 70 feet deep, in the eastern Oregon desert of Lake County. It takes a bit to get out there, and the road is pretty rough washboard your last mile to get there, but it is worth every jaw shaking moment.
When you get there, there is plenty of parking but we were the only one there which was awesome to get this hike all to ourselves. As you head up the trail you will see a beautiful juniper tree to you right and right past that is where you will go through the rocks and down into the fissure.
At the beginning of the hike it is pretty narrow. As we walked through the canyon we felt like we were in an almost Jurassic world, half expecting to see a pterodactyl fly overhead. The air was quite cool, so bring a sweatshirt, because it can be as low as twenty degrees cooler than the outside temperature. As we continued our exploration of the fissure we were in awe of the rock formations that formed thousands of years ago and imagined in wonder who may have possibly made it their home at one time.
About a mile in, we got to a point where I didn't feel confident in my climbing skills, so Gary, Ilias and Olivia continued on bouldering down into the crevasse and then up a small wall to a ledge. It was fun to see the kids practice their climbing skills outside of a gym. It was also interesting to see patches of grass throughout our hike where enough sunlight came in, though we were pretty much shaded the whole time.
After the ledge that Gary and the kids climbed it seemed to get even rockier and steeper so we decided to turn around and go back the way we came. In all the hike ended up being a moderately strenuous mile and a half, and definitely a fun and memorable one at that. It was definitely one of Ilias and Olivia’s favorite outdoor adventures.
If you want to go, we’d highly suggest visiting other points of interest along the way including Fort Rock for a hike, Summer Lake Hot Springs for a soak, and the very cool and historic, Pioneer Saloon in Paisley for a bite and drink.
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