Newberry Caldera, Oregon
Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Newberry National Volcanic Monument is a recreational playground for thousands of visitors each year. Newberry Crater holds two alpine lakes, East and Paulina, which are home to trophy-size brown and rainbow trout, as well as kokanee and Atlantic salmon. Seven campgrounds in the Crater, offer shoreline camping, boat ramps, sanitary facilities, group camping, and a horse camp with equestrian trails. In the winter, the Crater is a popular destination for both snowmobilers and cross-country skiers. Miles of trails run through the Monument, offering visitors year round opportunities for hiking and exploring. Hiking trails, include the popular Peter Skene Ogden National Recreation Trail and other trails lead to major lava flows and around portions of the crater rim. The northwest border of the Monument is the Wild and Scenic Deschutes River, where river rafters and kayakers bounce through white-water rapids formed by narrow channels carved through the lava. A wildlife refuge already exists within the caldera rim, and it will continue to be managed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The remainder of the monument is managed for hunting under state laws.

The Deschutes National Forest staffs several public information centers for the monument on a seasonal basis. Visitors learn the volcanic history of the area at Lava Lands Visitor Center. On top of Lava Butte, a working forest fire lookout is partially open to the public with exhibits on the first floor. The Newberry Crater Information Center offers general information to people entering the crater.

Excerpts courtesy of: U. S. National Park Service - Newberry National Volcanic Monument Website, 1999

For More National Monument Information

Link to: Newberry National Volcanic Monument Website

Supervisor's Office Deschutes National Forest
1645 Highway 20 E.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 388-2715
(541) 383-5531

Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District
1230 NE 3rd St.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 388-5664
(541) 383-4700

Lava Lands Visitor Center
58201 South Hwy. 97
Bend, OR 97707
(541) 593-2421

Newberry Volcano, centered about 20 miles southeast of Bend, Oregon, is among the largest Quaternary volcanoes in thee conterminous United States. It covers and area in excess of 500 square miles, and lavas from it extend northward many tens of miles beyond the volcano. The highest point on the volcano, Paulina Peak with an elevation of 7,984 feet, is about 4,000 feet higher than the terrain surrounding the volcano.

The top of Paulina Peak offers a grand overview of Newberry Crater, the south and west flanks of Newberry Volcano, the Cascades, and much of central Oregon. From its junction with Road 21 within Newberry Crater, the Paulina Peak road is 4.1 miles long. Passenger cars and vans can be driven on this steep and dusty road. However, it is quite rough and precipitous in some places.

On a clear day, you can see into Washington and California, and view almost the entire High Cascade Range in Oregon.

Things to notice:

• Three Sisters and Cascade Range
• South and west flank of Newberry Volcano
• Large number of cinder cones (bumps) on flank of Newberry Volcano
• Oregon's High Desert to southeast
• Rim of Newberry Crater
• Main road (Road 21) through Newberry Crater
• Paulina Lake
• East Lake
• Big Obsidian Flow
• Central Pumice Cone

-- Excerpt from: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.200-202, Contribution by Lawrence A. Chitwood