# Oregon Outback: volcanoes and high desert

> 3-day road trip of about 299 km (186 mi) with 7 stops, from Bend to Lakeview. About 3 h 19 min of driving in total.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b8-oregon-outback/

**At a glance:** 3-day road trip of about 299 km (186 mi) with 7 stops, from Bend to Lakeview. About 3 h 19 min of driving in total. From Bend past lava flows and a tuff-ring fortress into the empty basins of southern Oregon, ending in Lakeview.

| | |
|---|---|
| Distance | 299 km (186 mi) |
| Driving | 3 h 19 min |
| Suggested days | 3 |
| Stops | 7 |
| Route | Bend → Lakeview |
| States | OR |
| Updated | June 5, 2026 |

## Route description

South of Bend, US-97 runs through pine forest and young lava flows. At Lava Lands you can look into a cinder cone’s crater and walk a short trail over black lava, a good introduction to the volcanic country ahead.

Near La Pine, OR-31 turns southeast into the high desert. A short detour leads to Fort Rock, a ring of volcanic rock rising from the sagebrush where ancient sandals were found in a nearby cave. Further east, gravel roads beyond Christmas Valley reach Crack-in-the-Ground, a narrow fissure you can walk through.

Back on OR-31, the road drops beneath the Winter Ridge escarpment to Summer Lake, where marshes draw huge numbers of birds in spring and fall. Paisley, a tiny ranching town, is close to caves with some of the oldest evidence of people in North America.

The route ends in Lakeview, which calls itself the tallest town in Oregon and is known for hang gliding. Distances are long and services few, so fill up in La Pine and Paisley; in summer the days are hot and the nights cold.

## Stop-by-stop itinerary

1. **Bend** (OR)
2. **Lava Butte and Lava Lands** (Bend, OR): A cinder cone in Newberry National Volcanic Monument with a road to the crater rim and short trails across a young lava flow. Summer access to the top is often by shuttle.
3. **Fort Rock** (Fort Rock, OR): A ring of volcanic tuff rising from the sagebrush like a ruined fortress. Sandals found in a nearby cave are some 9,000 years old.
4. **Crack-in-the-Ground** (Christmas Valley, OR): A volcanic fissure about two miles long and up to 70 feet deep that you can walk through. It stays cool inside even in summer; the access road is gravel.
5. **Summer Lake Wildlife Area** (Summer Lake, OR): Marshes and a shallow alkali lake below the Winter Ridge escarpment, full of migrating birds in spring and fall. A gravel tour route leaves from the headquarters on OR-31.
6. **Paisley** (OR)
7. **Lakeview** (OR)