Lava Butte is a 500' cinder cone located a few miles south of Bend. The lookout shack is manned only in the summer and only during daylight hours. About 125 fires, mostly from lightning strikes, are spotted each year.
In the early 60s astronauts trained here because NASA thought the rough lava flow surfaces were similar to the surface of the moon. Wrong! But, no harm, no foul. The astronauts did get to see interesting geological features they probably didn't even know existed.
The Monument has several notable features, including cinder cones, caves, 2 caldera lakes, lava and obsidian flows. It's located in the Deschutes National Forest, south of Bend, and is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range.
A viewpoint on the Newberry Volcano road, snow capped mountains: Bachelor, the Three Sisters, and Broken Top.
Paulina Lake, the largest of the 2 caldera lakes.
A series of steep steps leads to the obsidian flow area.
A closeup of obsidian, which is actually volcanic glass, colored with minerals. Beautiful stuff! The monument has thousands of obsidian chunks. Natives used it to make tools, knives, arrowheads.
Aerial view showing part of the caldera, Paulina and East Lakes.
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