Newberry National Volcanic Monument
Benham Falls!
What it is
Newberry National Volcanic Monument offers you the chance to explore the Newberry Volcano, the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. The volcano’s eruptive history began 500,000 years ago with its most recent eruption occurring 1,300 years ago!
Picture of a lava cast tree!
What you need to know
The entrance fee is $5 but of course if you have a national parks pass, you’re golden. There are a few different areas that you can drive to from the highway, you can get a map of all three from the entrance booth at Lava Lands. The three areas include: Lava Lands (this is where the main visitor center is, the Lava Butte, Lava River Cave—on the other side of the highway from the entrance—various hikes to waterfalls…), The Lava Cast Forest (this was definitely cool and informative, but it was quite a bit out of the way down a bumpy forest road. If it is choosing between stopping by here and spending more time elsewhere, I would recommend spending more time at Lava Lands or the Newberry Caldera), Newberry Caldera (Here you can stop by the tallest peak in the park, Paulina Peak, visit Paulina Lake and East lake, there is also a lot of hiking, biking and camping available)
Map of Newberry National Volcanic Monument from the Forest Service
What to do
Biking around the National Monument!
Go for a bike ride!
I found this national monument great for biking. I only had my road bike though and would recommend bringing a mountain bike or a trail bike if you have one as you will be able to access more of the park. Stop by the visitor’s center to see all there is to do and to get a map!
The lava river cave from wikipedia
Visit the Lava River Cave
Keep in mind that this is closed for half the year to allow the bats to hibernate. In 2022, it was open May 15 - September 15, make sure to check that its open before visiting! If you are visiting in August, there is a timed reservation system that opens month in advance on a rolling basis at 7:00AM PT (if you are visiting on August 1, then you will need to reserve between June 30 and August 1; if you are visiting August 2, then reserve July 3; August 3, reserve July 4… ands o on). Each timed reservation allows for a 90-minute visitation and can be reserved on Recreation.gov for $2. I would recommend bringing extra layers as the cave is consistently cold even when it is hot outside, I would also recommend using the high luminosity lanterns that they rent out at the visitor center ($5) as a regular head lamp just doesn’t do it justice!
View from the top of the Butte
Drive / walk / bike up the Lava Butte
I would recommend driving because it is steep! The Lava Butte also has a timed driving entrance that you can get when you first enter the park. The timed entrance gives you ~45 minutes at the top of the lava butte, which is the perfect amount to drive up, walk around, read the signs and head back.
