Newberry Volcanic National Monument

We stumbled on a gem of a National Monument we knew nothing about. Newberry Volcanic National Monument, designated by Bush senior in 1990, covers about 55,000 acres and lies about 10 miles north of Bend Oregon. The reason we didn’t know anything about it is that it is one of the few National Monuments that is managed by the Forest Service. While challenging, we’ve managed to discover all the Monuments managed by the BLM, but those managed by the Forest Service remain elusive.

Lava Butte is a very intact cinder cone that rises some 500 feet above the 9 square mile lava flow it created some 7,000 years ago. From the edge of the cinder cone you get an awesome panorama of the mostly baron lava plain below. We circled the rim of the cone in order to get a perspective of the immense flow from every angle.

Every volcanic site has some features that are familiar, but also each one has some unique features as well. We found the Lava Cast Forest to be fascinating. We had never seen these kinds of formations in any other volcanic site, and we’ve been to many.

Apparently at the time of an eruption there was an existing forest here. The flowing lava surrounded the tree trunks destroying the small trees, but the very large trees held up long enough for the lava to cool and harden. The trees have long since decayed and disappeared, but the casts that they formed in the cooling lava remain. You get a sense for the size of the tree based on the hole that was left.

We hiked through the lava flow as well. During the CCC era a trail was created that runs right through the center of the flow generated by Lava Butte. Once in the middle of the flow you are completely surrounded by the lava – it’s all you can see with the exception of the glorious peaks of the Cascade Mountain range.

If you are ever lucky enough to be in Bend, Newberry Volcanic National Monument should be a must see on your list.

Talk to you soon!