Baby Face rock
The shady draw is well-known to scores of locals while others have grown up in the area and never heard of Baby Face.
What’s the real story? Who carved Baby Face?
Legend has it…
The road construction crew camped onsite as they worked to build the road to Elk City along the banks of the South Fork of the Clearwater River in 1929. Many had been away from home for months.
When mail was delivered, each man snatched his letter from the foreman’s hand and hurried into the forest above the road to sit and read in privacy.
One man opened the letter from his wife with particular excitement. The letter was bound to bring news of the birth of their first child.
What he learned, however, was that the child had died. In his grief, he climbed up a rocky draw and carved a life-sized face of a baby into a stone…
Wait. Is that the way it went?
Or did a young couple lay their baby down upon a rock for safety while they panned for gold, only to return and find the baby had been killed by a rock that fell from the steep hillside? Does Baby Face point to the grave of that child?
The face carving beside State Highway 14 on the way to Elk City has inspired these and other stories regarding its origin. Located fewer than 100 feet up a narrow draw beside a small creek, the carving is at eye level and hard to miss. The rock also bears the date, “1929” and the name, “Granite Creek.”
The real story?
“I’ve heard about the face carving all my life,” said Gayle Jacks of Craigmont. “We had to stop every time we drove by and Dad would tell the story again.”
According to Jacks, his father, Jim, was responsible for carving the face in the rock.
Jim Jacks and a partner lived in a cabin at the mouth of Granite Creek and ran a trap line across the river. The two young men took turns crossing the river to check their trap line, a trip that took about 1-1/2 days.
“One day when Dad was alone at the cabin, looking across the creek, he noticed a knob on a rock that was about the size of a softball,” said Jacks. “He got to thinking it wouldn’t take much to make it a face.” So, he cut a face into the granite using the only tools he had, a claw hammer and a cold chisel. Then he carved the date and place.
Unaware of the tragic legends it has inspired and the mystery that surrounds it, the nearly 80-year-old Baby Face continues to serenely watch Granite Creek tumble and splash its way past the granite boulder toward the South Fork.
FInd it
To find the face carving, travel east on U.S. Highway 14 toward Elk City. Look for mile marker 21 and then start watching for a brushy draw with a trail leading straight up the bank. There is a hint of a pullout across from the draw. Otherwise, park a ways down or up the road and walk along the highway to the unmarked Granite Creek. Because the road is narrow, this can be a dangerous walk. Watch for cars and keep in mind that drivers are not expecting to see pedestrians along that stretch of road.
Climb up the bank on the right side of the creek. You’ll find a short trail that will lead you straight to the large rock bearing Baby Face. Moss covers much of the rock and lettering and the nose has broken off, but the face is easily made out. At certain times of the day, a shaft of sunlight slips through the canopy of trees to shine directly on the face.
