Redmond, OR
Central Oregon high desert at 3,080ft elevation — gateway to Bend, Sisters, and the Cascade volcanoes. The Three Sisters (each over 10,000 ft), Mount Bachelor, Broken Top, and Mount Jefferson are all visible to the west; Smith Rock's tuff cliffs are 9 nm north. Built 1942 as Redmond Army Airfield, became civilian in 1946. Currently operates limited commercial service to West Coast hubs but the GA traffic dominates — Bend has become one of the fastest-growing pilot communities in the country. Density altitude is the constant — a summer afternoon can put you at 5,500 ft DA on takeoff.
The birthplace of American sport climbing, where Alan Watts pioneered the first bolted routes in the early 1980s. The park's welded tuff and basalt walls — pinkish-orange volcanic rock — rise hundreds of feet straight out of the Crooked River canyon. Routes like "To Bolt or Not to Be" (the first 5.14a in the US) made this place famous. From the air, the rock formations look like a geological riot: spires, fins, and walls of orange stone twisting in a river bend. Monkey Face — a 350-foot freestanding spire that genuinely resembles a primate skull — is the most photographed feature. Day hike or full climbing trip; either way, unforgettable.
Three closely-spaced stratovolcanoes — North Sister (10,085 ft), Middle Sister (10,047 ft), and South Sister (10,358 ft) — running north-south along the Cascade crest west of Bend. North Sister is the oldest and most eroded, all rotted volcanic rock and exposed dikes. South Sister is the youngest and most likely to erupt next (USGS monitors active ground deformation). Between them sits Middle Sister, the symmetric postcard cone. Surrounding the Sisters is a wilderness of lava flows, pumice plains, alpine lakes, and Collier Glacier — one of the largest in the lower 48 outside of Washington and Wyoming.
A massive shield volcano whose caldera holds two crater lakes — Paulina Lake and East Lake — separated by Big Obsidian Flow, a 1,300-year-old lava flow of glass-black obsidian that still looks freshly poured. The volcano covers 1,200 square miles, making it one of the largest in the Cascade Range by area (though not height). Lava River Cave (a mile-long lava tube), Lava Cast Forest (trees encased in solidified lava 7,000 years ago), and a forest of cinder cones along the east flank make this one of the most geologically diverse single sites in the Pacific Northwest. Recently active — the obsidian flow is the most recent eruption in Oregon.
Oregon's tallest peak at 11,249 feet — a stratovolcano 50 miles east of Portland, visible from the city on every clear day. Mount Hood is the second-most-climbed mountain in the world after Japan's Mount Fuji, with about 10,000 summit attempts per year. The last confirmed eruption was around 1865, though steam venting from Crater Rock continues. Timberline Lodge, built in 1936-1938 as a WPA project at 6,000ft on the south flank, is a National Historic Landmark and was used as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Timberline ski area on the south side runs year-round on the Palmer Glacier — one of the only summer ski operations in North America. From the air, Mount Hood's symmetric cone is the most distinctive feature on the Oregon side of the Cascade crest.