Big Obsidian Flow

Tucked inside the caldera of Newberry Volcano, the Big Obsidian Flow is the youngest lava flow in Oregon — a glittering, mile-wide river of volcanic glass that cooled a mere 1,300 years ago. A short interpretive loop climbs a steel staircase onto the flow itself, winding between car-sized boulders of jet-black obsidian and pale, frothy pumice. From the top, the views take in Paulina Peak, Paulina Lake, and the forested rim of the caldera. It is a short walk with an outsized payoff, and one of the strangest landscapes you can stand on anywhere in the Northwest.