Fort Rock State Park – July 2023

Fort Rock State Park – July 2023

by Kim · Published July 6, 2023 · Updated July 8, 2023

Fort Rock State Park – July 2023

We spent Fourth of July exploring Fort Rock State Park in Oregon. It was about an hour away from Bend. Fort Rock was created when basalt magma rose to the surface and encountered the wet muds of a lake bottom. It's hard to believe this used to be a lake.

Fort Rock was created when basalt magma rose to the surface and encountered the wet muds of a lake bottom.

Ready for the day's adventures.

This photo gives you a good view of Fort Rock. The trail followed the inside wall. (Photo take from Atlas Obscura)

A view of the "inside" of the formation. It makes an arc.

Orange lichen. So many colors in the desert.

Dale stands in a crevice.

Dale will do anything for a video.

A Raven perches on the rock. There were several and they were making a ruckus. Worse than a grackle!

Follow the path.

Dale perches on a rock like a cherry on whipped cream. Ha ha.

Photos do not do justice to the size of this rock formation.

Layers of rock make for a colorful display.

A formation in the middle of the arc.

The total loop trail was one mile, but we took over two hours because we were climbing, and looking at everything.

Fort Rock State Park in Oregon.

The "front" of Fort Rock.

These flowers almost looked like tiny dried Roses.

Beautiful yellow flowers enjoying the morning sunlight.

Looks like fire in the scrub brush.

A scattering of purple flowers.

Yellow flowers with some sort of light orange flowers at their base.

The variety of plant life was so pretty.

These flowers were still pretty to me even though they were dry and lost their original color.

Another variety of yellow flower.

It's hard to capture the beauty of the landscape, but I tried!

Vivid and tiny flowers at Fort Rock.

Delicate beauty in a harsh environment.

Yellow flowers in the desert.

Desert flowers.

Since the cemetery was right next to the park, we stopped by.

One of the older graves in the cemetery.

Someone had put flags out for the July 4 holiday even though the cemetery is in the middle of nowhere.

This guy was a Native American Chief!

Yes! Tombstone Fort Rock Cemetery.

You can see Fort Rock in the background. This museum was closed for July 4.

Giddy up Cowboy!

Old School House at Fort Rock Homestead Village

Old Western Church

Fort Rock Homestead Village

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