Lava Beds National Monument

Lava Beds N.M.
Location	Lava Beds National Monument Rd, Tulelake, CA 96134
Website Lava Beds N.M.

Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. This United States National Monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano and has the largest total area covered by a volcano in the Cascade Range.

Overview

Fern Cave at Lava Beds National Monument

The region in and around Lava Beds National Monument lies at the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade, and the Great Basin physiographic provinces. The monument was established as a United States National Monument on November 21, 1925, and includes more than 46,000 acres (190 km2).

Lava Beds National Monument has numerous lava tube caves, with 25 having marked entrances and developed trails for public access and exploration. The monument also offers trails through the high Great Basin xeric shrubland desert landscape and the volcanic field. In 1872 and 1873, the area was the site of the Modoc War, involving a band led by Kintpuash (also known as Captain Jack). The area of Captain Jack's Stronghold was named in his honor.

Recent activity

A series of small earthquakes in late 1988 has been attributed to subsidence in the caldera. N-NE trending ground cracks, as well as N-NE trending vent series show relationships between tectonism and volcanism. One very prevalent ground crack exists along the northeastern boundary of the monument- "The Big Crack."

Volano Geology

Lava Beds National Monument is geologically significant because of its wide variety of "textbook" volcanic formations, including lava tube caves, fumaroles, cinder cones, spatter cones, pit craters, hornitos, maars, lava flows, and volcanic fields.

Volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created an incredibly rugged landscape punctuated by these many landforms of volcanism.

Cinder Cones

• Hippo Butte,
• Three Sisters
• Juniper Butte
• Crescent Butte = older than the Mammoth and Modoc Crater flows, more than 30,000–40,000 years old. * Eagle Nest Butte and
• Bearpaw Butte are 114,000 years old.
• Schonchin Butte cinder cone and the andesitic flow from its base were formed around 62,000 years ago.
• Valentine Cave erupted 10,850 years ago. An eruption that formed The Castles is younger than the Mammoth Crater flows.
• Fleener Chimneys, such as the Devils Homestead flow, 10,500 years ago,
• Black Crater 3,025 years ago.
• Cinder ButteAbout 1,110 years ago, plus or minus 60 years, the Callahan flow was produced by an eruption from Cinder Butte.

Lava Tubes

Lava flows dated to about 30,000–40,000 years ago formed most of the lava tube caves in the monument. As the hot basaltic lava flowed downhill, the top cooled and crusted over, insulating the rest of the lava and forming lava tubes. Lavacicles on the ceiling of a lava tube were produced as the level of lava in the tube retreated and the viscous lava on the ceiling dripped as it cooled.

Dripstone was created when lava splashed on the inside walls of the tubes. The leaching of minerals from pumice gravel, soils, and overlying rock provides for deposition of secondary speleothems in lava tubes.

Lava Beds National Monument has the largest concentration of lava tube caves in North America. One has electrical lighting, the others are illuminated by ceiling collapse portals or require flashlights, available on loan.

Historic Landmarks

Indian Archeological site

Lava Beds National Monument includes Petroglyph Point, one of the largest panels of Native American rock art in the United States. The region was historically occupied by the Modoc people. The Lava Beds National Monument Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1991.

Captain Jack's Stronghold

During the Modoc War of 1872–1873, warriors of a band led by Kintpuash (Captain Jack) used the lava beds as a defensive stronghold to resist being captured and returned to the Klamath Reservation in Oregon, to which they had been removed, as European Americans wanted their lands.

In April 1873, at a peace commission meeting, Captain Jack killed General Edward Canby while associates killed Reverend Eleazer Smith and wounded two other commissioners. Canby was the only general to be killed in the Indian Wars.

Lava Beds Wilderness High Adventure

Lava Beds Wilderness The Lava Beds National Wilderness is a 28,460-acre (11,520 ha) wilderness area within the Lava Beds National Monument. It was designated by the US Congress on October 13, 1972 with passage of Public Law 92-493.[6] The wilderness protects more than half of the national monument in two separate eastern and western units. The larger eastern unit contains the extensive Schonchin lava flow on the east side of the monument. The western unit covers the monument's area within the transition zone of the Cascade Range's montaine southern end and the arid Modoc Plateau ecosystems.

The different soil types creates plant community diversity in the Wilderness Area, providing various habitats for a wide range of wildlife. The numerous coyotes and foxes, as well as raptors, feed on rodents such as the jackrabbit and kangaroo rat. The kangaroo rat is especially adapted to dry, waterless environments because it can go 'a lifetime' without water.[7] A metabolic process occurs whereby it synthesizes water from chemical components in the dry seeds it eats.[7]

Many the birds seen the Wilderness Area are raptors, with 24 species of hawks identified.[8] The monument is located on the Pacific Flyway and the Bald eagle winters here in the northern portion of the Wilderness Area.

The National Park Service manages the Lava Beds Wilderness Area and has several restrictions in place. Camping is prohibited near cave entrances or trails. Open campfires may be prohibited during very hot and dry weather.