Page 109 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

OREGON  107

snow-capped peaks. Exhibits at
the Lava Lands Visitor Center
explain how Newberry Volcano
has been built by thousands
of eruptions that began about
400,000 years ago – the last
eruption occurred about 1,300
years ago – and which, seismic
activity suggests, may begin
again. Other exhibits highlight
central Oregon’s cultural
history. Well-marked roads and
interpretive trails lead to major
sites within the monument.
Bend’s High Desert Museum, showcasing life in central and eastern Oregon At Lava River Cave, a passage
extends almost 1 mile (1.5 km)
p Smith Rock the center of town, overlooks into a lava tube, a channel
State Park the High Desert and nine through which molten lava
snowcapped Cascade peaks.
once flowed. At Lava Cast
Road map 1 B4. Tel (541) 548-7501. The High Desert Museum Forest, a paved loop trail
Open dawn–dusk daily. & celebrates life in the rugged, transverses a forest of hollow
∑ oregonstateparks.org arid High Desert terrain that molds formed by molten lava,
covers much of central and which created casts around tree
At Smith Rock, the Crooked River eastern Oregon. Walk-through trunks. A road ascends into the
flows beneath towering rock dioramas use dramatic lighting 18-mile- (29-km-) wide caldera,
faces of welded tuff – volcanic and sound effects in authentic where Paulina and East Lakes
ash that was compressed under re-creations of Native American sparkle amid pine forests. It
intense heat and pressure. These dwellings, a wagon camp, then skirts a massive field of
unusually shaped peaks and a silver mine, and other scenes shiny black lava known as the
pinnacles – with compelling of desert settlement. Outdoors, Big Obsidian Flow as it climbs to
names like Morning Glory Wall a trail crossing the floor of a the 7,987-ft (2,434-m) summit of
and Pleasure Palace – are a lure forest of ponderosa pine leads Paulina Peak, the highest point
for risk-taking rock climbers, to replicas of a settler’s cabin within Newberry Monument.
who ascend the sometimes and a sawmill, and to natural In addition to magnificent
more than 550-ft (168-m) sheer habitats, including a trout stream, scenery, the monument
faces on over 1,300 climbing an otter pond, and an aviary filled provides opportunities
routes. The less intrepid can with hawks and other raptors. for hiking, fishing, boating,
enjoy the spectacle from camping, and winter recreation.
roadside viewpoints or from Y Pilot Butte State
one of the many hiking trails Scenic Viewpoint Lava Lands Visitor Center
that follow the base of the cliffs. East end of Greenwood Ave. Tel (800) 58201 Hwy 97. Tel (541) 383-5700.
551-6949. Open 8am–8pm daily. Open May–Jun & Sep: 9am–5pm
∑ oregonstateparks.org Thu–Mon; Jul–Aug: 9am–5pm daily;
a Bend E High Desert Museum Oct: 9am–5pm Sat & Sun. Closed
Road map 1 B4. * 82,000. 59800 S Hwy 97. Tel (541) 382-4754. Oct 13–Apr 30. ∑ fs.usda.gov
n 750 NW Lava Rd, Suite 160, Open May–Oct: 9am–5pm daily, Nov–
(541) 382-8048. ∑ visitbend.com Apr: 10am–4pm daily. Closed Jan 1,
Jul 4, Thanks giving, Dec 25. & - =
Busy Bend, once a sleepy lumber ∑ highdesertmuseum.org
town, is alluringly close to the ski
slopes, lakes, streams, and the
many other natural attractions s Newberry
of central Oregon. While National Volcanic
unsightly development is quickly
replacing juniper- and sage- Monument
covered grazing lands on the Road map 1 B4. Open May–Oct:
outskirts, the Old Mill District dawn–dusk daily. & ∑ fs.usda.gov
retains a good deal of small-town
charm. Drake Park is a grassy The Newberry National
downtown retreat on the bank Volcanic Monument
of the Deschutes River, and Pilot encompasses eerie and bleak
Butte State Scenic Viewpoint, landscapes of black lava, as well
atop a volcanic cinder cone as sparkling mountain lakes, A rock outcrop at the Newberry National
that rises 500 ft (150 m) from waterfalls, hemlock forests, and Volcanic Monument

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