The nearest inhabited place is the small unincorporated community of Fort Rock, Oregon, which is 9 miles (14 km) west of the Fleetwood townsite.

Today, the site is located on an unimproved dirt road 10 miles (16 km) east of Fort Rock state park.

Fort Rock rises well above the surrounding high desert plain with a topographic prominence of approximately 325 feet (99 m).

In 1938, University of Oregon professor Luther S. Cressman excavated the cave and found sandals, tools, and other human artifacts.

[4][5][6] While a federal government report published in 1906 stated that the Fort Rock Valley received 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 cm) of rain per year, that was not a realistic estimate of the area's normal precipitation.

Actual weather records show that precipitation in the Fleetwood area averages only 8.6 inches (22 cm) per year.

As a result of the arid climate, vegetation is sparse, consisting mainly of drought-tolerant sagebrush and native bunch grass.

Between 1908 and 1915 the Bend Bulletin and other Central Oregon newspapers published numerous articles highlighting the opportunities for dryland farming in the Fort Rock Valley.

Commercial advertisements extolled the valley as having rich loam soil capable of growing bumper crops of wheat as well as apples, berries, cherries, pears, plums, and prunes without the need for irrigation.

It allowed settlers to claim 320 acres (130 ha) of government land in Central Oregon and parts of other western states.

[8] Because of the high desert environment, the lumber needed to build structures in the Fleetwood area had to be hauled from a sawmill located in the pine forest 25 miles (40 km) west of townsite.

However, the school quickly became an important community asset where people from Fleetwood would enjoy stage productions, music programs, and poetry readings.

[11][18] For the next few years, Fleetwood was a busy commercial center with a store, post office, school, blacksmith shop, stable, and a community dance hall.

Because Fleetwood had a community hall, dances were regular events that drew large crowds from a wide area around the town.

The dance hall had one big room with a loft above the main floor, heated by a large pot-bellied stove.

[15] A few years later, the Cougar Valley School building was moved to the nearby town of Fort Rock and used to expand the local Grange hall.

That year, the federal government announced it would buy back up to 225,000 acres (91,000 ha) of abandoned homestead property in northern Lake County as part of the Fort Rock Land Utilization Project.

Today, the nearest inhabited place is the small unincorporated community of Fort Rock, Oregon, which is located 9 miles (14 km) west of the Fleetwood townsite.