The Dee Wright Observatory at McKenzie Pass is a very special building: shaped like a fortress, it is completely made of volcanic rock. Well, if you look around you, you will see that volcanic rock is abundant, so I guess it was also a logical decision to take this material.

A short interpretive trails gives you some information about the landscape around you. The massive lava field was caused by the eruption of the nearby Belknap Crater, but you can hike through lava for miles and miles, since it is mixed with the lava fields caused by The Three Sisters, too. It is a unique landscape and you might feel like you are on the moon. If you want to enjoy a hike besides the observatory here, notice that you need a wilderness permit for the Central Cascades.

There are restrooms at the observatory – a hint for PCT-long-distance hikers. ;)

MonacoTrail

August 26, 2018

The lava field at McKenzie Pass is more than 100 km² in size and was created when the Belknap crater erupted around 2000 years ago - measured in geological terms, that's a blink of an eye. The old pass road winds through this bare lava desert, at the top of the pass a small observation tower was built from lava chunks and an instructive nature trail leads on a small circuit into the area.
The precipitation seeps away quickly in the lava debris and emerges in large springs at the foot of the mountains. Poor conditions for colonization of the actually fertile lava by plants, the area is correspondingly bare even after this long time.
The views of the surrounding volcanic mountains, the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson, are stunning if visibility is good.

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 1,630 m

Weather

Saturday 18 October

15°C

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Max wind speed: 9.0 km/h

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Location: Deschutes County, Oregon, United States

Dee Wright Observatory

1. Dee Wright Observatory and Lava Trail – Mount Washington Wilderness

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