The Big Obsidian Flow

The big obsidian flow at newberry national volcanic monument in oregon, under the auspices of the deschutes national forest includes: benham falls on the wild and scenic deschutes river, lava cast forest, lava river cave, lava lands, paulina and east lakes, paulina creek falls, paulina peak, campgrounds, hiking trails, hot springs and more.

The Big Obsidian Flow at
Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Oregon

I wish you could see it as it was when I first saw it.

I was a young child, and we were going camping at Diamond Lake, but we had to wait until daddy got home from work. Diamond Lake is further south than Paulina Lake and Newberry Crater. It's at the north entrance to Crater Lake National Park, so it was a pretty long journey to take at the end of the day almost the full length north south length of the state of Oregon.

The day was long and even longer. Dad was/is famous for his "shortcuts", and he must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. My sisters and I were asleep, but I remember waking long enough to see that it was dark and that mom and dad were setting up camp. However, it wasn't until the morning when we woke that Debbi, Kathy and I found out where we were. Beautiful alpine lake: Paulina, one of the lakes in Newberry Crater at Newberry National Volcanic Monument. (Although it wasn't a national monument then.) We were at the forest service campground that's still there today: Little Crater.

I have many memories of that trip. One of them is that the lake over by the lodge was full of tadpoles. Debbi, Kathy and I were entranced with them. :-) There were no tadpoles at Little Crater. The big obsidian flow is another great memory. Indeed, that memory stands out in striking contrast to what can be seen in the monument today. We saw the big obsidian flow many times, and our memories are strong. Actually, that visit was but the first we made to Paulina Lake, coming back summer after summer. Indeed, one summer dad had the plumbing contract over at the main campground. We spent the entire summer at Little Crater Campground on Paulina lake. How lucky! Dad loved to fish and was looking always for the best gear until one summer he pulled the biggest rainbow trout out of the lake. More than 20 inches. Debbi, Kathy and I whiled our days swimming and and playing in an inflatable raft on the lake. We did it all, hiking around Paulina Lake, drives to the top of Paulina Peak, drives to the top of Lava Butte. We learned the names of all the surrounding mountains, even Mt Thielsen further to the south. We roasted hot dogs and made some mores fireside some nights. Great memories. And one of the greatest, absolute biggest, was that first summer, after waking up in the tent, camped along a beautiful lake I'd never seen before, when I got my first view of the Obsidian flow. To us it looked mountainous. There was so much. Sadly, years of people coming to visit, just as we did, took its toll, and those of you today will never see it as I saw it. Wondrous and amazing. Those beautiful, BIG, black shining stones, and they were everywhere.

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big obsidian flow from paulina peak at newberry national volcanic monument: lava cast forest, lava lands, lava river cave, benham falls on the deschutes river hiking trail, on the wild and scenic deschutes river, hiking trails, paulina and east lakes, little crater campground, paulina peak, paulina creek waterfall, campgrounds, resort, hot springs, fishing, boating, swimming.

Forward ~ Paulina Lake with Broken Top in the Cascades, as seen from the interpretative hiking trail on the Big Obsidian Flow at Newberry National Volcanic
Monument in Oregon.

Back ~ Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Oregon, view from atop Paulina Peak.

USFS: The Deschutes National Forest in Oregon.

Explore Newberry National Volcanic Monument in central Oregon: Travel Directions, Map and Scenery for your enjoyment.

Paulina Lake, with Bachelor Butte of the Oregon Cascade Mountains in the background, viewed while hiking the interpretative hiking trail on the big obsidian flow at Newberry National Volcanic Monument in central Oregon. That little speck on the lake is a sailboat.

Travel Oregon and northern California while staying at Gathering Light ... a retreat
located in south central Oregon, near Crater Lake National Park.

Travel on the West Cascades National Scenic Byway to Gathering Light ... a retreat: Travel Directions, Map and Scenery: wild and scenic rivers, hiking trails, mountains and volcanoes, old growth forests and more.

Directions to and Day Trips in either Oregon or California of about 100 miles from the retreat.

Explore little Known Scenic Places near Crater Lake and the retreat: Travel Directions, Map and Scenery: hiking trails, river gorges, wetlands and wildlife refuges, birding trails, canoeing and more.

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 hiking in the cascade mountains on our way to medford, oregon about 60 miles from gathering light ... a retreat in oregon: Cabins; tree houses in the forest on the river near crater lake national park in oregon.

Contact Brad at Gathering Light ... a retreat.

Hiking in the Cascade Mountains on our way to Medford, Oregon (pictured above) about 60 miles from Gathering Light ... a retreat in Oregon. Rustic simplicity, a place to "Just Be", Gathering Light is nestled on the banks of the river, surrounded by the Fremont Winema National Forest of southern Oregon and not far from Crater Lake National Park.