Our campsite in Sunriver is very close to Bend where another of my favorite chicken fried steak joints, Jake’s, is located. We went there for breakfast and I threw a great big heart plug down the grocery hole and it was great. Peggy had good stuff, too. Jake’s is on US-20 east of town and I heartily recommend it for those like me desiring tasty American cooking that may be very bad for you but tasty, nevertheless. Prices are very reasonable.
Afterwards we made a beeline for Newberry National Volcanic Monument. The Monument is divided into two segments – Lava Butte close to Bend and Newberry Crater near La Pine. We started out at the Lava Butte. It is a 500 foot tall cinder cone sticking up in the middle of a plain, sort of like an enormous zit. Visitors can take a road that spirals up the surface of the giant cone and terminates at a small parking lot on the rim of the little volcano. US-97 can be seen far below and the Cascade Range with some 10,000 foot plus volcanoes make up the western horizon. It is a fabulous view from the top.
Since the parking lot at the rim of the crater is so small, the Park Service only allows 30 minutes at the top before making room for others. We spent our entire allotment at the top and then descended to take a spin toward the Newberry Crater portion of the park. It is just a short spin south on US-97 before turning east into the pine forests and on into the Monument. The Lava Butte was really just a vent in a vast volcanic cataclysm but the Crater is the the site of two calderas that make up the top of Paulina Peak. Both calderas are filled with deep blue water and are pretty spectacular.
Thanks to our ancient person’s park pass from the Feds, we got into the Monument for free again. Those without a pass only have to pay $10 per carload so paying isn’t too bad. There are numerous campgrounds, trails, an obsidian flow that is truly magnificent, good roads, a few sandy beaches, boat ramps and lots of other stuff here, including truly amazing views. I’ll return here on my next pass through.
We got a few pix today near the crater. You can see some if you click here