Lava Lands
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Newberry National Volcanic Monument near Bend, Oregon encompasses the massive Newberry Volcano, a shield volcano covering more than 1,200 square miles. Unlike the steep, cone-shaped peaks most people picture when they hear volcano, a shield volcano builds up in wide, gradual slopes from countless lava flows over time. Newberry has been active for hundreds of thousands of years, and while its most recent basalt eruption created Lava Butte about 7,000 years ago, its youngest lava field, the Big Obsidian Flow, formed only 1,300 years ago. The monument is divided into different sections, and we began with the Lava Lands area to the north.
Lava Butte
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At the Lava Lands Visitor Center, we caught the shuttle to the top of Lava Butte, a cinder cone from the most recent eruption. From the rim, we circled the crater trail, with views across the dark lava fields below with forests beyond and mountains rising in the distance. Back at the base, we walked the Trail of the Molten Land, walking between jagged black rock where life has slowly returned. Rabbitbrush was in bloom, its yellow flowers bright against the lava, and a few hardy trees found footholds among the cracks. I spotted a grasshopper that had adapted perfectly, its coloring almost indistinguishable from the lava it rested on.
Later, we followed forest roads to Benham Falls on the Deschutes River, where the water churns through a narrow gorge before reaching calmer stretches downstream. We walked the trail along the river and spotted ospreys perched and gliding overhead, with one nest tucked high in the trees. Along the river we could see where the lava flow met the Deschutes and stopped at the water’s edge.
Later, we followed forest roads to Benham Falls on the Deschutes River, where the water churns through a narrow gorge before reaching calmer stretches downstream. We walked the trail along the river and spotted ospreys perched and gliding overhead, with one nest tucked high in the trees. Along the river we could see where the lava flow met the Deschutes and stopped at the water’s edge.