Smith Rock State Park is a state park located in central Oregon's High Desert near the communities of Redmond and Terrebonne. The day-use area of the park is open daily from dawn to dusk. The park also has a camping area as well that accommodates tent camping only. Its sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt are ideal for rock climbing of all difficulty levels. Smith Rock is generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing, and is host to cutting-edge climbing routes. It is popular for sport climbing, traditional climbing, multi-pitch climbing, and bouldering. History The origin of the Smith Rock name is uncertain. One story, published the Albany States Rights Democrat in 1867, states that Smith Rock was named after John Smith, who was Linn County Sheriff and an Oregon state legislator in the 1850s and 1860s. The newspaper article credits Smith with "discovering" the rock. Another story claims the rock was named after a soldier named Smith who fell to his death from the rock in 1863 while his unit was camped nearby. The State of Oregon obtained the park property between 1960 and 1975 from the City of Redmond and Harry and Diane Kem. Geology The geology of Smith Rocks is volcanic. It is made up of layers of recent basalt flows overlaying older Clarno ash and tuff formations. Approximately 30 million years ago, a large caldera was formed (Crooked River caldera) when overlying rock collapsed into an underground magma chamber. This created a huge amount of rock and ash debris that filled the caldera. That material solidified into rock, becoming the rhyolite tuff of Smith Rock. Rhyolite dikes intruded along faults in the tuff. A half million years ago, basalt lava flows from nearby volcanoes covered the older tuff. More recently, the Crooked River cut its way through the layers of rock to create today's geographic features. Smith Rock itself is a -high ridge (above sea level) with a sheer cliff-face overlooking a bend in the Crooked River (elev. 2600 ft), making the cliffs about 600 feet high. Wildlife There is abundant wildlife in and around the park. Mule deer and many small mammals are common in the park. river otter and beaver are found along the park's Crooked River frontage. The Smith Rock area hosts many types of birds like the canyon wren and the white-throated swift, including birds of prey such as prairie