Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Volcanic caldera with obsidian flows, lava tubes, and two alpine lakes

Newberry National Volcanic Monument preserves the slopes and caldera of Newberry Volcano, one of the largest shield volcanoes in the contiguous United States. The monument is about 25 miles south of Bend and covers 54,000 acres of volcanic terrain — lava fields, cinder cones, obsidian flows, lava tubes, and two crater lakes that sit inside the caldera.

Paulina Lake and East Lake occupy the caldera at 6,300 feet elevation, offering excellent trout fishing and kayaking in a dramatic volcanic setting. The trail to Paulina Peak, the highest point at 7,984 feet, gives a sweeping view of the entire monument and the surrounding high desert. Lava Lands Visitor Center at the base of Lava Butte — a perfectly formed cinder cone just off Highway 97 — has good exhibits explaining the region's volcanic geology.

The Lava River Cave, a lava tube you can walk through with a lantern, is one of the most accessible geological oddities in Oregon. Bring a jacket — it stays 42°F inside year-round.

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The obsidian flow at Newberry — the Big Obsidian Flow — erupted just 1,300 years ago, making it one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States. Native Americans quarried the volcanic glass here for thousands of years before the eruption. Today you can walk across the black, glittering field on a marked trail, picking up fragments of glass that were fashioned into tools by people who lived here long before European contact.