View full sizeCrack in the GroundSome regions of Oregon hold an embarrassment of riches when it comes to geologically themed place names. The desert southeast of Bend has not just Crack in the Ground, but also Hole in the Ground and Big Hole. All three are worth a visit.
It's called Crack in the Ground, but "Volcanic Fissure in the Ground" would actually be a slightly more accurate name for the geologic feature southeast of Bend.
A mere thousand years ago, lava flows fractured the earth near what is now called Christmas Valley, forming Crack in the Ground. These days, the crack is -- well -- a crack in the ground.
Stroll in and explore its length, walking on sand and sharp rock, sometimes climbing over =-boulders, oohing and aahing at the mosses and rock formations that line the walls.
The feature some locals call "The Crack" stays cool enough that you can find ice in the bottom during the desert's scorching summers. Local lore has it that homesteaders used The Crack as a two-mile-long refrigerator.
Getting there
Crack in the Ground:
From the town of Christmas Valley, travel north about 7 miles on gravel Crack in the Ground Road to a parking area.
Hole in the Ground:
South of La Pine, turn southeast onto Oregon 31. After 22 miles, turn left onto gravel road 3125 and follow signs for Hole in the Ground.
Big Hole:
On the way to Hole in the Ground from La Pine off of Oregon 31. After 20 miles on 31, turn right onto gravel road 400. The area has a tangle of gravel roads, but Big Hole begins less than a mile from the highway.
At least 20 places in Oregon are called Hole in the Ground, with eight in Harney County alone. The most famous is in Lake County and is about a mile across and 500 feet deep.
In the 1960s, NASA sent astronauts to the Hole because the agency thought it looked like a feature of the moon. The Hole formed almost 20,000 years ago, when magma heated the groundwater and caused a series of eruptions.
Now you can walk along the dusty floor and admire the reddish rocks and scattered pines that ring the peaceful spot.
Big Hole, another explosion crater, is near Hole in the Ground and is also a nice place to hike. Big Hole is slightly larger than Hole in the Ground but garners less attention because its edges have eroded further.
No immediate plans to visit Lake County? Try Hole in the Wall outside Baker City, where part of a hillside sloughed away in 1984. Portlanders, look for Hole in the Wall Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.
-- Lisa Ekman
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