Oregon Caves National Monument

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Oregon Caves National Monument
IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)

Location:	Oregon, USA
Nearest city:	Cave Junction, OR
Coordinates:	42°05′53″N, 123°24′26″W
Area:	488 acres (1.97 km²)
Established:	July 12, 1909
Visitation:	84,465 (in 2004)
Governing body:	National Park Service

Miller's Chapel, the site of the biggest stalactites and stalagmites in the cave

Oregon Caves National Monument is a national monument in the northern Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon in the United States. Known primarily for its marble caves, the 488 acre (1.97 km²) park is located in southeastern Josephine County approximately 30 mi (48 km) south of Grants Pass.

[edit] Description

In 1874, while a local man named Elijah Davidson was hunting, his dog Bruno chased a bear into a cave. This discovery became an attraction, and in the 1890s developers opened the caves as a commercial enterprise. In 1909, at the urging of Joaquin Miller and other influential men, President William Howard Taft declared the caves a U.S. National Monument. The Monument was managed by the U.S. Forest Service until August 10, 1933 when jurisdiction was transferred to the National Park Service.

The 3.5 mile (5.6 km) marble cave in the Monument contains one of the largest assemblages of endemic cave dwelling insects in the United States. Recently they have gained notoriety for the Pleistocene jaguar and grizzly bear fossils found in some of the deeper chambers. The National Park Service provides cave tours for a fee (as of October 2006, it was $8.50). Tours last up to 90 minutes, and temperatures inside the caverns are 43 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, regardless of outdoor temperature. [1]

Above ground, the monument encompasses a remnant old-growth coniferous forest. It harbors a fantastic array of plants, including a Douglas fir tree with the widest known girth in Oregon. Four hiking trails access this forest. The park also features a historic lodge known as the Chateau, which visitors can stay in.

The region represents a unique geology composed primarily of bits and pieces of ocean crustal rocks (ophiolite). Some geologic sections are composed entirely of serpentine rock and soils which support many unique plant species. It is this unique soil that makes the northern Siskiyou Mountains well known for their botanical diversity and assemblages of endemic plants.

The climate of the region is strongly influenced by the Pacific Ocean which contributes to relatively mild summers and winters as well as 50 inches (1.3 m) of rain per year. The elevation at the Visitor Center is 4,000 feet (1200 m) and resulting in comfortable summer temperatures and snowy winters. The park is situated high in the watershed of the Illinois River, a tributary of the Rogue River that is a major salmon and steelhead spawning waterway.