Redmond Caves

Redmond Caves
Entrance to Redmond Cave no. 1
Location	Deschutes County, Oregon, USA
Geology	Horse Cave lobe; basalt of Lava Top Butte
Entrances	6
List of entrances	Each cave has one entrance, except Cave Next Door has two
Difficulty	Easy to Moderate
Access	Public
Cave survey	1997-06-07; 1980-11-??; 1969-03-28

The Redmond Caves are a group of five lava tubes in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The caves are located in the city of Redmond and are jointly managed by the city and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). They are part of the Redmond Caves Park and have been well known locally for many years. The caves are a part of the Horse Lava Tube System and the farthest northern extent of the system. The lava flow that created both the Horse system and the Redmond Caves continued on into the Redmond Dry Canyon and terminated near Crooked River Ranch. The caves have a geologic age of about 80,000 years.

Many of the caves in the system were known long ago by prehistoric Native Americans, as attested by archaeological artifacts found therein.

The first known caves of Central Oregon by Euro-Americans, may have been the Redmond Caves. During the 1870s an old stage road passed by their area. Since their discovery by settlers, various uses have been recommended for the caves. One report mentions the caves were considered for potato storage as early as the 1910s. There was also a proposal from a Madras resident who wanted to use them for growing mushrooms. On one occasion, the Deschutes Historical Society was notified about using the site as their museum.

In 1954, the Lions Club of Redmond opened up an entrance to a previously inaccessible cave. After finally gaining entry into the cave, they discovered footprints of modern shoes in the dusty floor. Later, two boys admitted to squeezing into the cave the night before. The newly opened cave turned out to be the longest on site and Y-shaped. Later, the cave was fully explored by two boys searching for relics. They discovered that the Y-shaped passage was instead a loop.