Lava Butte is Located Just South of Bend

Lava Butte is part of the Lava Lands Visitor Center which is the interpretive hub for Newberry Volcanic National Monument. Located just south of Bend on the west side of Highway 97, the Visitor Center is closed from the middle of October through the beginning of May. However, the parking lot remains open year round (snow permitting) for people who hike the 5.5 mile Sun-Lava paved path over the lava fields or hike the 3.3 mile round trip up Lava Butte. The road up Lava Butte is traveled by a shuttle during the summer, but during the off season a gated fence stops vehicles from making the trip. However, hikers and bicyclists can access the butte through a person gate in the fence and enjoy the trek up the butte and views from the top.

Those who walk the 1/4 mile around Lava Butte's rim can read a lot about the geology of the area in the interpretive signs. Newberry Crater is the largest volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with an area of 1,200 square miles when its lava flows are taken into account; this area is larger than the state of Delaware. From north to south, the volcano has a length of 75 miles, with a width of 27 miles and a total volume of approximately 120 cubic miles. Over 400 lava buttes are part of the volcano, Lava Butte being one of them. From the top of the butte, many other cinder cones are visible, among the most popular for Bend residents is Pilot Butte located within the city limits.

Although not a long hike, the trek up Lava Butte provides for almost 600 feet in elevation gain along a paved road. For those who want more, there are many additional hikes in Newberry Volcanic National Monument which become available late spring/early summer.

Alder Springs Flows Into Wychus Creek

The hike to Alder Springs outside of Sisters limits motorized access from December 1st through March 31st to protect the winter rangeland of the local deer populations. However, access to the trail head is on rough dirt roads for which 4 wheel drive and high vehicle clearance is recommended. Directions to the official trail head can be found on the USDA website. The "unofficial" route involves travel on Locust Street (Camp Polk Road) in Sisters 3.1 miles north from East Cascade Avenue. Take this to Wilt Road, staying on Wilt when the pavement ends 4 miles. Past Rimrock Ranch the road is less maintained. Travel another 2.2 miles until you see a sharp unmarked turnoff to the right onto a rough dirt road. The weekend of April 5, 2025 this road was almost impassible with deep rutted mud which required challenging driving to get through. Travel on this past a gate until you reach a picnic area next to Whychus Creek which provides for a water crossing during dry times of the year. There is a beautiful mesa above the crossing and signage for a Native American archaeological site.

The early stages of the hike involves traveling next to the creek for a mile, the narrow path following the slope and involving short stretches of climbing followed by level areas. After a mile, the path steepens and hikers travel up the canyon slope and traverse above the river, with several areas close to the steep canyon cliff. Hikers should be careful here. In addition, the open high desert landscape with scattered juniper trees, sagebrush and fescue grass has limited shelter and sun exposure can be an issue with on warm summer days.

After 4.5 miles, the path drops into the bend of Wychus Creek which also contains Alder Springs. The traditional hike following the Ochoco National Forest website to Alder Springs meets here. Those who hike the recognized path have to wade across Wychus Creek here. In April 2025, the creek was full with the heavy winter snows just starting to melt.

Alder Springs itself is a beautiful oasis of water bubbling up from the ground flowing into Wychus Creek, surrounded by deciduous trees and dogwood, with Seep Monkeyflower growing in bunches on limited higher ground in the springs.

For those who wish to hike the mile and a half to the confluence of Whychus Creek with the Deschutes River, the trail has much heavier vegetation. With few people hiking this area, there are sections of the trail overgrown and hikers have to look out for both rocks which can trip people and branches which can hit heads and bodies. Part of the trail goes through a grove of horsetail. Just before reaching the confluence, there is a beautiful weeping wall with a spring of water flowing into Whychus Creek, resembling a waterfall. Hikers have to know to look for this as access to the view has heavy vegetation and it is difficult to maneuver through this.

At the confluence, beautiful rock canyon walls and a welcoming rock overlooking both rivers make for a great lunch spot. In April 2025 the water levels were very high, higher than seen in earlier years.  All in all, the full hike is over 11 miles with just over 1000 feet of gradual elevation gain.

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