I spent the better part of a day at the Newberry Caldera, part of the Newberry Volcanic National Monument, doing a 14-mile loop on the collapsed core of Oregon’s largest volcano (by volume), which began activity about 400,000 years ago. I started the hike at Paulina Lake and took the Crater Rim Trail the three miles up to Paulina Peak, at 7,984 feet the highest prominence in central Oregon east of the Cascades. Yes, you can drive to the top, but after a mile of slag lodgepole pine forest, the trail reaches the caldera rim, and I began to get great views down into the caldera itself as well as up to the craggy cliffs of Paulina Peak. The nearest Cascade summits, however, were shrouded in the summer-long fire haze. Whitebark pines dominate the parklands on the upper slopes. They are making a comeback after being decimated in a 1950s outbreak of blister rust.
At the peak itself, there were other visitors, including a couple of minibuses full of OSU students who were studying climate change. I got a great view down to the Big Obsidian Flow, my next destination. I followed the Crater Rim Trail east along the edge of the caldera and then descended the Lost Lake Trail along the Obsidian Flow, taking a short diversion to the Pumice Flat. For my lunch break, I sat in an “armchair” of smooth black glass on the edge of the two-mile long flow, which at 1,300 years, is the youngest lava flow in the state.
When I reached the Newberry Crater Trail on the caldera floor, I headed up to do the short interpretive trail on the obsidian flow itself. Once again, I ran into a slew of fellow visitors who had driven in. From vantage points up on the flow, you can see the shallow remnants of Lost Lake at the base of the flow.
The last leg of the loop involved hiking along the Obsidian Cliffs. Here, the odd whitebark pine, twisted and gnarled, has found foothold on the slopes of glass where other trees fear to take root. After the flow, the trail became dusty from horse use, and I ended up hiking a telephone line corridor back to the parking area at Paulina Lake. By that time, fire smoke had rolled in with a change of the winds, and I could not see across the water to the north shoreline!
This is a national monument, but it is administered by the Deschutes National Forest, so you just need a Northwest Forest Pass or $5 permit to park here.
Newberry Caldera 09-12-17
- CampinCarl
- Posts: 573
- Joined: June 17th, 2011, 7:41 am
- Location: Salem
Re: Newberry Caldera 09-12-17
I love this place. Your OSU sighting reminds me of the Geography of Oregon class I took there in fall 2005, a most excellent start to my master's program! We road tripped around the state and had a great time seeing a wide variety of landscapes across the state. Your route looks like a great one to tour some geological wonders. Thanks for the report.
Re: Newberry Caldera 09-12-17
Neat.
I've been there, but was in a rush, and looks like I missed some of the good stuff.
I've been there, but was in a rush, and looks like I missed some of the good stuff.
- oldandslow
- Posts: 175
- Joined: August 22nd, 2012, 12:47 pm
Re: Newberry Caldera 09-12-17
Very nice trip report. Here is a sample of the view of the Cascades from Paulina Peak had there not been smoke.