Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Bend, OR – Located just south of Bend in central Oregon, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument (NNVM) is great place to tour volcanic features, hike and camp. The park is under the management of the Deschutes National Forest. A National Forest Day Use pass is $5, or $10 for a 3 day NNVM pass. Federal passes such as the annual parks, senior, military and access are accepted here. To hit all of the highlights, plan on at least one full day. To complete some of the hikes and see each area, we recommend at least two days.

View of the distant Cascades, Paulina Lake and part of the Newberry Caldera Rim from Paulina Peak

Newberry National Volcanic Monument includes 54,000+ acres of lakes, lava flows, and spectacular geologic features in central Oregon. The highest point within the Monument is the summit Paulina Peak (7,985 ft.), showcasing views of the Cascades, Newberry Caldera, and across the High Desert. Although commonly referred to as Newberry Crater, the “crater” is in fact a caldera formed when the overlying rocks collapse when a magma chamber is emptied. The caldera stretches across 17 square miles in the heart of the volcano. The 1,200 square mile volcano (about the size of Rhode Island) remains very active to this day. Newberry is both seismically and geothermally active. Geologists believe the caldera sits over a shallow magma body only 2 to 5 kilometers deep. Visitors see numerous cinder cones and vents (over 400 throughout the area), miles of basalt flows, as well as rhyolite flows of obsidian.

Newberry Caldera’s Obsidian Flow

Paulina and East Lake are listed as some of the best fishing in Oregon, with opportunity for Rainbow, Kokanee, Brown Trout, and chub. They allow boating and have boat ramps at both lakes. There are numerous campgrounds in the Newberry Caldera region and a total of 22 hiking trails in NNVM. Some of these also allow biking and horseback riding. We recommend a trip to this Monument. We visited while staying at the SIsters Garden RV Park, one of our favorites. Bend is closer and offers multiple RV Parks including the in-town Scandia RV. For a close up look at the wildlife and history of the region, check out the nearby High Desert Museum. We also visited the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Paulina and East Lakes in the Newberry Caldera

Lava Lands

This section of the park is home to the highly rated Lava Lands Visitor Center. You can drive to the top of Lava Butte which has a 1/4 mile rim trail at the top. We also recommend the Trail of the Molten Land, which is a 1 mile paved trail through a basalt lava flow. A very short paved nature trail, Trail of the Whispering Pines, introduces you to the region’s flora and fauna. There are a number of other longer hiking trails from this area which we did not have time to check out.

Lava Butte from the Trail of the Molten Land

View from the Lava Butte Rim Trail

The Lava Butte Lookout Tower from the Lava Butte Rim Trail

Basalt field from Lava Butte with the Cascades in the distance

The paved Trail of the Molten Land viewed from Lava Butte

Along the Trail of the Molten Land

A tree grows among the basalt

Mount Bachelor framed by basalt

Lava River Cave

Located near Lava Lands, the Lava River Cave is a 1 mile long (one-way) lava tube cave. There is a brief orientation from a ranger. As this is a cave and they are trying to prevent the spread of White Nosed Bat Syndrome, you must not be wearing or carrying items that have been in another cave. They rent flashlights that project 1,000 lumens with LED’s and rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries for $5. Mike carried a rented flashlight and I wore my headlamp, which was necessary on the very uneven flooring in the cave. The cave is entered via 150 stairs. Mike’s rental flashlight was better for exploring the walls and roof of the cave, but trying to navigate with it and its movement while he walked was a bit “Blair Witch”-esque. We enjoyed the cave and recommend it to anyone who is able to walk on very uneven surfaces. It is a very tall tube with only a short section at the far end that required us to stoop.

Entrance to the Lava River Cave at Newberry includes 150 stairs

Inside the Lava River Tube

Uneven flooring in the cave

This section of floor has divots from dripping water

Lava Cast

The Lava Cast Forest Trail is located 9 miles back Forest Service Road # 9720 reached from exit 153 of Highway 97. Forest Service Road #9720 is gravel and is very bumpy with washboards. Enroute to the Lava Cast area, you will pass another hiking trail, Hoffman Island, which takes you to an island of vegetation that had lava flow around it. The Lava Cast Trail is a 1 mile trail through an area that showcases lava casts which occurred when lava flowed around trees and hardened. After many years the tree decomposes away and the hard lava has an empty space where the tree trunk stood when the lava flowed.

A tree’s lava cast

Along the Lava Cast Trail

Newberry Caldera

Paulina Lake Road, which provides access to the Newberry Caldera section is located less than 30 minutes south of Lava Lands and is home to the park’s seven campgrounds, a resort and a lodge. Visitors should stop at the Paulina Visitor Center. There are numerous hiking trails in this section including the 21 mile Caldera Rim Trail. There is a hike to the top of Paulina Peak or you can drive up on a gravel, bumpy, narrow forest road. Views from the top of Paulina Peak are spectacular and include the Newberry Caldera Rim, the Cascades in the distance, Paulina and East Lakes, and the obsidian flow.

Paulina Peak and Paulina Lake from Paulina Lakeshore Trail

The Obsidian Flow

Newberry Rim and Paulina Lake from Paulina Peak

View from Paulina Peak

We hiked the Little Crater Trail (1.8 miles) and part of the Paulina Lakeshore Trail (7.5 mile loop) both in the area of Little Crater Campground. We also hiked the Paulina Falls Trail (up to 2 miles). There are 11 trails in the Newberry Caldera section of NNVM.