While on our trip to Sunriver, Oregon we visited the Lava Lands and the Newberry National Monument in Bend, Oregon. The Lava Lands is a stretch of land that is covered by lava rock left over from the volcano eruption of the Newberry Volcano. We walked The Trail of Molten Land and stood at the top of the peak. It was a very informative and interesting hike, and here is a recap of our trip.
Inside the interpretation center it covers everything you could possibly want to know about volcanoes and especially the Newberry Volcano.
Newberry Volcano
Most lava rock is made of pumice and other rock. This display shows how pumice is light and floats in water over the other rocks that made up the flow. Lava rock is one of the best pumice stones you could ever have in your shower, by the way!
We headed up The Trail of Molten Land.
We bought some walking sticks for our random hikes and this trail hike was one of the best terrains, but we still used the sticks for some of the inclines.
Lava rock covered most of the ground, except on the trail.
Inside some of the larger lava rocks were small pieces of lava rock. This one looked similar to an egg and inside of it was the smaller lava rocks. It was fascinating to us.
Skylar found several little cave areas where the lava, when it was flowing, went up over something that was in the ground and left this cave-like opening. Most of them either lead all the way through to the other side, or they ended not far from the opening. He explored ALL of them and found some interesting things.
Of course his chipmunk was on an adventure too.
We stopped at the top and had a little snack. The wind was blowing just enough to make it a nice area for a small picnic.
The mountain behind Skylar is Lava Butte. We conquered the butte after we finished the trail. (pictures to come soon)
After our snack we headed back down the trail.
We noticed new things on the way back down, like this tree. It was the only tree around in the entire lava land area, and it was growing right out of the rock.
The signs gave a bit of information on how the lava flowed through the land. We read ALL of them.
When we left the chipmunks were running around like crazy all around us. A few ducked into this hole in the ground and Skylar placed his chipmunk there to see if any of them would come out and greet it. They didn't....I think they were onto us. Ha!
The Lava Lands and The Trail of Molten Land is just another attraction that Bend, Oregon has to offer. You can read more about the Lava Lands from the USDA site here.
Eco-Tip: Families that play together, stay together. For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me: Go Green.
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