Lava Butte, Oregon

On our way to Crater Lake, we stopped at the Lava fields at the base of Lava Butte and took the road up to the summit of the cinder cone.  The lava fields and cinder cones south of Bend are part of a complex that is associated with Newberry Volcano - the largest Volcano in Oregon and a potentially active caldera south of Lava Butte with significant eruptions just 1300 years ago.  The lavas near Lava Butte erupted from a vent near the summit about 7000 years ago, not long after the Mount Mazama collapse that formed the caldera that we now call Crater Lake.  The Newberry Volcano suffered an even larger event like that which formed Crater Lake about 80,000 years ago.

This panorama was taken at a pullout near the base of the cinder cone along the road that winds up Lava Butte to the lookout at its summit near the edge of the lava flow.  This was assembled with the Hugin Panorama software from 4 images taken with my 18-250mm lens at 18mm focal length and exposures of 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 400. Slight adjustments were made in the GIMP after assembly.

Looking across the summit crater on top of Lava Butte from the fire lookout shows distant lava fields.  The lookout sits at the tallest point on the cinder cone.  This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

From the south side of the summit crater on Lava Butte, you can see the lava flows next to the highway.  In the distance, the large gentle rise in the horizon is the Newberry Volcano.  Before its catastrophic collapse 80,000 years ago, it was probably quite a bit taller.  The Newberry Volcano is the center of the activity that includes this cinder cone and lava field.  This image was taken at 22mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

From the south side of the summit crater you can see the fire lookout and also see how steep the inner slopes of the crater are.  This cinder cone was last active about 7000 years ago.  This image was taken at 22mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

A better view of the lookout from the same area as the previous image, this time with my zoom set to 183mm focal length and an expsoure of 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

A view of the lava along the rim of the summit crater.  The exposure was 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 400 at 18mm focal length.

The source of the youngest lava flow visible in the middle distance was just below the summit crater just left of this image.  The lava flow dates to about 7000 years.  This image was taken at 1/500 seconds at f/11, ISO 400 and 18mm focal length.