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Bend, Oregon 2016

Lava Butte near Bend, Oregon - part 1

Our Crazy Post Retirement Wanderings Hiking and Triking


Lava Butte near Bend, Oregon - part 1

Lava Butte is just south of Bend Oregon. It is part of the Newberry Volcanic Monument. It is the large cinder cone at the north end of the monument, near the Deschutes river. Newberry Volcanic Monument is one of the largest volcanoes in North America, being roughly 70 miles long and 25 miles wide.

On the day when we visited Newberry, it was in the high 70's with a light wind. We drove down to the cinder cone and drove to the top. The views are pretty good on a clear day, but with forest fires, some days are hazy, and the views are not as clear. We could see Mount Bachelor, the sisters, ragged top, and a few other mountain peaks in the area.

When we came down from the cinder cone we went to the north visitor center, where there are a lot of nice displays that discuss things about the cascades, volcanoes, tectonic geology theory, and some other very interesting topics. The pictures and text are well done, and give the viewer a better sense of perspective of the physical world.

We brought a picnic with us and our water bottles as well, and so we ate our lunch outside of the visitors center in view of the snow capped mountains to the northwest.

After lunch we drove to the trail that goes to the waterfall we thought. The trail went west from the road to the Deschutes river. All of the walking amounted to about 2 miles, and it was all easy walking.

There were several places where one could see through the trees Mount Bachelor, still covered with snow, as well as Sisters mountain, and a few mountains to the south.

There were several places where, as you can see by the pictures, the lava fields, where the lava was piled up a few tens of feet thick on top of the ground where the cinders cooled. This lava field near the Deschutes is only a few thousand years old, and hasn't weathered much. Very similar to in the big island of Hawaii, you can see the cinders nearly fresh from the ground.

Overall, Newberry monument is a nice place to spend several days seeing everything, and taking the hiking trails. But don't come before the middle of June, because the roads above 5,000 feet are likely to be closed. Also the campgrounds are closed. Many of the scenic roads are blocked off until mid or late June.

Special attractions also include a mile long lava tube "cave" that you can hike back into if you want. You can also drive up to the top of Newberry dome, which is covered by two lakes. It's a dome volcano, and there are some recreation opportunities up on top, and there are some nice views and hikes that you can do up on the volcano.

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    Last Update: Aug 28, 2016

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