Locals sometimes refer to the terrain around Bend as “the cone zone” — a nod to the cinder cones, lava buttes, and blackened flows that ripple across the high desert like frozen waves. It’s
playful shorthand but also a quiet acknowledgment of the region’s dramatic volcanic origins. This is a place born of fire. Pilot Butte rises right in town—a reminder that Bend is one of the few
U.S. cities with a volcano in their city limits. Venture further and you’ll find a rugged constellation of cones and craters: Lava Butte, Tumalo, Newberry Caldera. Each marks a chapter in a story still unfolding deep beneath the surface. The soil here is loose and mineral-rich, forcing plants to dig deep and adapt. Trails wind through jagged flows where lichen paints the rock in rust and sage. Even the language of the landscape — “butte-hopping,” “lava bombing,” “flow country” — carries the edge of something elemental. To hike, bike, or simply breathe in this region is to stand on the bones of ancient eruptions. In Central Oregon, geology isn’t just a backdrop. It’s character.