After leaving the Newberry Caldera, we headed north on Highway 97 to Lava Lands Visitor Center, then drove to the top of Lava Butte, a cinder cone with a fire lookout tower on its rim.
The visitor center within the caldera was still closed for Winter, even in mid-June, but the north unit’s visitor center was open for business. This gave us a chance to learn a bit more about the volcanic history in this region.
After getting our official brochures, we decided to drive up to the top of Lava Butte, a 500 foot tall cinder cone. The road spiraled around the cone just the way you’d want it to, almost but not quite like the path that Frodo took to Mount Doom. There was a small parking area up there. It was hot out, as the elevation was only 5020 feet, so we headed for the nearest shade, which was in short supply.
We decided to hike counterclockwise around the rim of the central crater, and would save the Fire Tower for last. The rocks on the rim were mostly small and light, as befitted cinders. They were also largely red in color, which really gave it that true “Volcano” aspect.
As we walked along, we checked out the inner crater, which had many pines trees growing inside, and also looked out at the views. Newberry Caldera was off in the distance to the southeast, and Paulina Peak was its highest point. Vicki and I just finished climbing it earlier that day, so seeing it from here was fun. In the opposite direction, to the northwest, was a large lava flow that originated from within this vent. According to the rangers, it actually diverted the course of the Deschutes River, which was pretty cool. Or hot, as the case may be.
The rim trail was less than half a mile in length, and soon we were trudging up the final slope to the Fire Tower. Vicki was not amused, as it was hot. We paused in the shade when we could, but eventually our only hope was to get to the shade below the tower itself. We took a break there and looked at all the photos inside. There were instructions telling visitors not to disturb the volunteer lookouts up above, so of course we didn’t. It would have been fun to go up into the tower, but this place gets far too busy for that, especially in the Summer, when they even have a shuttle bus service to get up here.
We checked out the map, and Vicki decided that she wanted to see where the lava flow moved the river, so we drove down the road to the trailhead. We walked a short distance to a footbridge over the Deschutes River, and it was very pretty. There were lots of tourists on bicycles having fun on the paved path. Across the river was the infamous lava flow. There was no sign of where the river used to flow, as the watercourse looked fine to us. You’d have to look at the map to find out.
We thought about heading back to the big caldera to camp, but then decided that doing some laundry, taking a shower, and getting a good night’s sleep in a comfy bed took precedence. We had been on the road for a week already, and things were getting a bit ripe. So we headed for the nearby town of La Pine, and found a motel.
After doing the laundry, we ate some dinner in town, and headed back to the motel. It was very clean and we happily took long showers until we were equally clean. It felt good to be a civilized tourist for once. But we weren’t worried, as we’d be reduced to the grubby car-campers we truly were, all too soon.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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