View to Fort Rock Cave from the west rim of the Fort Rock volcano (bobcat)

• Hikes to this destination:
  • Fort Rock Loop Hike   (TH | <—   —> | LOG)

• Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
• Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
• Latitude, Longitude: 43.37395, -121.07457
• Elevation: 4495 feet

Description

Viewpoints on the west rim of the Fort Rock volcano look about half a mile across a flat sagebrush expanse to a rock outcropping with a small cave, or rather, overhang. Archeological discoveries at this cave place a human presence here as far back as 15,000 years. In 1938, the cave yielded a trove of dozens of sagebrush bark sandals buried under a layer of Mount Mazama ash. The sandals, about 10,000 years old, are the oldest footwear yet discovered on the planet. The same archeologist, Luther Cressman of the University of Oregon, returned to Fort Rock in the 1960s and found stone tools which could be up to 15,000 years old.

Today, you can take a guided tour to Fort Rock Cave, also known as the Rueb Long Cave after the rancher on whose land the artifacts were found. The tours, by reservation only, depart from the Fort Rock Trailhead in the spring and summer.

More Links

• Fort Rock Cave (Oregon State Parks)
• Fort Rock Cave (The Oregon Encyclopedia)
• Fort Rock Cave (Oregon) (The Archeological Conservancy)
• Fort Rock Cave (Travel Oregon)
• Archeologists to return to Oregon’s Fort Rock Cave (Around the O)
• The World’s Oldest Shoes (University of Oregon)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)