Oregon Caves National Monument

Jill's Journal: One has to be seriously dedicated (or clueless, as we were) to make the journey to Oregon Caves National Monument. There’s a sign off the main highway in the little town of Cave Junction pointing to Oregon Caves. Naively, we thought that meant the caves were just up the road. And I suppose they were – if by “just up the road” you mean a little dead-end road that reaches 20 miles deep into a national forest while climbing to 4,000 feet up the Siskiyou Mountains. It takes 50 minutes one-way due to extreme twists, turns, and switchbacks.

But, just like anything in life that takes a little more effort, it was worth it. After that trek, we were determined to go on a tour and were relieved when little Victoria literally just squeaked by the height requirement, probably due to her tennis shoes. When she had to pass a stair test as well, I started wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.

The 90-minute hike into the caves is labeled as “moderately strenuous.” We quickly learned why. The 526 stairs throughout the Oregon Cave’s chambers are steep, uneven, wet, and slippery. Most were roughly hewn out of the rock floor in the 1930s. Where the climbs are too steep for “natural” stairs, firemen-type ladders/stairs were added. All this while bending and twisting through narrow passageways, some only 45 inches high, in the dark with water dripping on top of us from the “ceilings” in a constant temperature of 44 degrees.

It was a blast! The girls thought it quite the adventure. And to be honest, the littlest one scared us to death. We were warned ahead of time by the rangers that there were several dangerous places she could easily slip off the path through openings down to the depths of the caverns, so I had a hand on the two older, more agile girls in the worst spots while Rob constantly had a hand on her. About a third of the way into the mountain, there was an option to exit the tour and Rob wisely opted to do that with Victoria (a very wise decision, as it turned out the climbs and descents grew progressively more tricky). Madelyn was ready to leave as well, so just Erika and I continued on with the ranger. Erika loved being the big girl on the grand adventure without the little sisters tagging along. She was in her element!

We were rewarded with some really amazing sights 200 feet below the forest floor. This “room” was called Paradise Lost. Erika’s favorite part of the whole cave wasn’t the exquisite “drapery” shown here but the preserved bear bones that are believed to be 3,000 years old.

Can you see the writing on the wall? This “graffiti” was left by a geology professor and his class in the 1880s before people understood the detrimental impact such things had. When an attempt was made to remove the writing a few decades later, it was too late. The cave had already sealed itself over it.

Much of the cave is a low-grade marble, which you can see here. Another beautiful feature is the stream which runs throughout the cave, apparently unusual in West Coat caves. It is unknown whether the native Indian population of the area ever entered the cave (there is no evidence they did) and it wasn’t until 1874 that a white hunter named Elijah Davidson discovered it. Tourists began arriving in the 1890s and President William Taft declared the caves a national monument in 1909.

A highlight for the girls was being sworn in as Junior Rangers. Erika completed her work and took her oath with Ranger Lindsey, the same ranger who took us into the cave.

Madelyn and Victoria finished their work and were sworn in with Ranger Derek. The Oregon Caves rangers were all the absolute nicest rangers we’ve found anywhere. They all went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and get the girls excited to be there. Every single one of them were all really wonderful.

A major part of the Oregon Caves is the Chateau. This 1934 lodge just steps from the entrance to the cave is nestled perfectly into the surroundings with a bark-clad exterior. It’s a National Historic Landmark and anyone is welcome to walk through it. The Chateau is supposed to be one of the most unchanged/intact lodges in America that harkens to a bygone era.

The six stories of the lodge span a ravine so that each floor opens onto solid ground. Are all lodges this unique, this tranquil, this rustic, this charming? Maybe we should ditch the RV and do a lodge tour of America. With huge picture windows like this at every turn, Rob and I could only dream of being like this guy and hunkering down with a good book for a few days.

Here’s a few more shots of the Chateau grounds…what a lovely day, well worth our little journey “just up the road.”