The Dee Wright Observatory stands at the high point of McKenzie Pass on the old Highway 242, about half an hour west of Sisters. It is a squat round tower built entirely of lava rocks during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the windows are arranged so that each frames a specific Cascade peak — Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, the Three Sisters, Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack — each labelled by a bronze plaque on the parapet.
The drive up Highway 242 is one of the great Oregon scenic drives, winding through the Belknap and Yapoah lava flows — vast expanses of black volcanic rubble. The Lava River Interpretive Trail at the observatory is a short paved loop with signs explaining the geology. Note: Highway 242 is only open from early summer until the first heavy snow (typically October-November), and is the kind of narrow, twisty road on which RVs and large trucks are explicitly banned.