Hike Around the Crater at Lava Butte - Sunriver, Oregon

Where we went and why

When we went to bed last night, we hadn't decided if we were going hiking today. When we woke up, we hadn't decided either. At some point after breakfast, we decided to go for a hike. I picked the hike yesterday when we went to the Head of Jack Creek, so my hubby picked today. We did a two part hike. The first stop was the gas station to get our NW Forest Pass. Then it was off to Lava Butte. He picked this because we hadn't been there before, it was sort and it was scenic. He likes great big vistas. I prefer waterfalls and flower gardens. I'm glad we went here though. It was great.

How to get there

From Bend, go south on 97.  Take the road with the sign for Lava Butte/Benham Falls Trailhead. I think it's about 13 miles south of Bend. It's after the High Desert Museum and before La Pine.I suck at directions. You drive down this road for a bit and follow the signs. You can drive to the top or walk to the top. If you walk to the top, you're doing it on the road that people drive on and that's just not something I would recommend.

The Hike

This is a very short hike, but it can be challenging if you're not in shape. From the parking lot, you have two options. You can go up first or you can go down first. We looked around the crater and analyzed the contours. After some careful thought, we opted to go up first. This takes you up to the lookout tower first. You can only go into the lower floor of the lookout tower. There are signs inside to let you know know the names of the bumps on the horizon. 

Once you're done looking around the tower and taking pictures, you get to go down! Down is so much better than up! You go down for about 3/4 of the way around the crater. It starts off a bit steep and then levels out a bit. Then you go back up for a short spurt. Most of the people on the trail were going in the opposite direction as us, but once we got back to the parking lot, the park ranger sad that we had chosen the easier route. It helps you break up the up since you start off up and then look around and then go down and then back up. I felt better after chatting with her. She was super nice. She asked where we were from and discussed hiking with us. She talked to us about some long hikes that we are so not ready for, but she didn't seem to notice or care that I'm 297 pounds and can't do an 8 mile one way trek! 

I was pretty proud of myself because I was able to do this little trek without my hiking poles. It wasn't really that intense if you're in shape, but I just don't do inclines. My MapMyHike map didn't save. I made sure that I had Internet access first, but it still didn't save. I'm sooooo bummed about that! I checked on Google to see how much elevation change their was. It said that it was 100 feet. Which oddly enough is less than the hike to the Head of Jack Creek that we did yesterday, but that was spread out over 1.4 miles. This 100 feet was broken up in two small sections. The whole trip was only 1/4 of a mile according to the trail head map. 3/4 of it was downhill or flat so that 100 feet was all in about 1/4 of the 1/4 mile. I don't think I had to stop on the hills, and I wasn't gasping for breath! Woot Woot!

I didn't bother with the BodyMedia screen shots because I couldn't tell where one hike ended and the other one began. 

The Video

If you like the pictures, feel free to check out my Lava Butte YouTube video. 

Overall Thoughts

This was an enjoyable walk. The view was spectacular. I wish it had been a clearer day though. There were vault toilets available. There was a lot of educational stuff around the crater. There was also a visitors center with a gift shop. They didn't have any Christmas ornaments which sucked, but I could have gotten a key chain and used it as a Christmas ornament. (I have a slight obsession with Christmas ornaments.) This was a good add on to the walk to Benham Falls. I don't think I would make the drive to only visit this one spot though since it's such a short walk. You only get 30 minutes at the top of the crater too. The parking is limited so they only let so many people up at a time and you have to leave within 30 minutes. There was also a trail around the lava flow down near the visitors center. We didn't take that walk. When we go back again, we'll probably do that section.