BOU AVENUE
Lava Butte
Zosia Zgolak and I had a rest day on 10 August 2024 which consisted mainly of playing a lot of disc golf and visiting Newberry National Volcanic Monument near Bend, Oregon.  We had originally hoped to join a guided tour of Lava River Cave, but with all tickets for the day sold out, we had to settle for a self-guided tour of a small cinder cone known as Lava Butte.  An active fire lookout sits atop Lava Butte and can be reached via a restricted access road.  While it is permissible to walk or bike the road, during peak season motorized traffic is limited to shuttle buses which run up and down Lava Butte every twenty minutes (more details here).  Not wanting to exert much effort under a scorching hot sun, we opted to pay the $3 USD per person for the air-conditioned bus ride to the top.  We got on the bus just outside the Lava Lands Visitor Center.

Once we were dropped off at the summit parking lot, Zosia and I visited the nearby active fire lookout.  The lower level of the fire lookout is open to the public but is rather barren except for some displays which help identify distant landmarks.  When we had enough of milling around the fire lookout, we went for an easy walk circling the crater rim of Lava Butte.  Upon returning to the parking lot, we found some shade to hang out under until the arrival of the next shuttle bus which took us back down to the visitor center.
Tough hike so far! Zosia reads an interpretive sign at the bus drop-off point on Lava Butte.
Easiest summit ever! Sonny stands beside a sign near the summit of Lava Butte.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Could be improved a bit to make it more welcoming to visitors. Only the lower level of the summit fire lookout is open to the public.

Thankfully, this cinder cone is not active!

Here is a comprehensive view of the crater atop Lava Butte.

 

We had to go off-trail a bit to get this shot. From the far side of Lava Butte's crater rim, Zosia pauses for a look back at the summit fire lookout.