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Lava Beds National MonumentBy Lisa Anderson Mann
The lava tubes were formed when hot fluid lava spilled from the cracks and fissures on the Medicine Lake volcano. As it flowed, the exposed tops and sides of the lava cooled and solidified. This hardened outer layer acted as insulation so the interior flow remained hot and liquid. When the volcano stopped erupting, the lava drained out through the tubes. Over 400 tubes have been located in Lava Beds so far, and experts believe there are more undiscovered.
The human history of Lava Beds is almost as strange and desolate as its landscape. Signs of early human habitation include petroglyphs at Petroglyph Point and pictographs in Big Painted Cave, Fern Cave, and Symbol Bridge. Lava Beds is also the site of the only major Indian war in California history. The Modoc War of 1872-1873 pitted a small band of tenacious Modoc Indians against the US Calvary. The Modocs abandoned the Klamath Reservation to return to their homelands near Tule Lake. Troops were sent to return the Modocs to the reservation “by force, if necessary’. They headed across what they believed to be flat land towards an easy victory over approximately 50 Modoc men and their women and children. But Lava Beds—particularly viewed from the distance--is deceiving. The deep lava trenches and underground lava tubes provided the Modocs protection the Calvary had not imagined. Exhausted by the razor sharp terrain and bitter cold and confused by tule fog and the seemingly magical appearance and disappearance of the Modocs, the troops suffered heavy losses the first day of the battle, and retreated, abandoning enough weapons to stage another war. 52 Modoc warriors held off a growing army --eventually 20 times larger--for five months, making the Modoc war, at over a half a million dollars, most expensive war ever launched in the US against a native people. But inevitably, the sheer number of troops overwhelmed the Modocs, and by May 1873 the battle was over, and with it, the Modoc culture. The soldiers were baffled by the Modocs’ fierce determination to hold on to what appeared a barren and worthless chuck of rock, but it only takes a day or two here to feel an inexplicable connection to this strange, but beautiful, place. If You Go Entrance: $5 per car (good for 7 days) Lava Beds National Monument is always open to visitors. The visitor center hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during winter season and 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. during summer season (closed Christmas Day). Bump hats are sold for $3.50; free-use lanterns may be borrowed, but must be returned by 4:30 pm, so bring flashlights if you wish to explore the caves in the evening. Lodging: One group site is available by reservation; the other sites are available on a first-come first-served basis. No lodging is available within the monument; the nearest hotels are in Tulelake and Klamath Falls. Getting There: Driving: From the South: |
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Dry,
inhospitable, rugged, and remote, Lava Beds National Monument is often hot
in the summer, foggy in the winter, and inexplicably eerie at dusk. And it’s
a gem.
With
hikeable lava tubes, craggy volcanic chimneys, and a climbable cinder cone
etched with tumbleweed and sagebrush, Lava Beds has an otherworldliness that
can’t be easily described. Nearby Tule Lake is a birder watchers paradise
that also boasts petroglyphs carved on sandstone cliffs.
Evidence
of volcanic activity in Lava Beds is inescapable. Lava Beds’ 72 square miles
are covered with volcanic rock deposited there by periodic eruptions over
the past 500,000 years. Scattered with fumaroles, cinder cones, spatter
cones, maar volcanoes, chimneys, and lava flows, it boasts the largest
collection of lava caves in the continental US.
Exploring
these sinuous lava caves is a must. Only one, Mushpot Cave, whose entrance
is in the parking of the Visitors Center, is lit, but over two dozen have
been outfitted with steps, ladders, or cleared paths. During the summer,
there are ranger-led tours of the caves, but visitors can explore on their
own at any time. The Visitors Center lends lanterns for use in the caves,
and sells inexpensive bump hats. Two flashlights per person, sturdy shoes,
and long pants are recommended. Most of the caves are clustered along Cave
Loop Road. Some are relatively easy to navigate; others require crawling or
scrambling over rough lava floors.
Improbably,
this moonscape-like terrain also supports a wealth of wildlife. Mule deer,
pronghorn antelope, bats, bobcats, cougars, kangaroo rats, quail,
jackrabbits, and rattlesnakes all live in Lava Beds. Over a million
shorebirds and waterfowl touchdown during spring and fall at the nearby Tule
Lake. Raptors and other birds of prey are very common. Bald eagles winter
in the Lava Beds in greater numbers than anywhere outside of Alaska. 