It must have been long long ago that the earth shook. Then they would get their wooden pans and buckets, they would turn them upside down there, and they would sing and make a racket. They would say in their singing,
Put by the side of the . . . — — Map (db m114168) HM
Since time immemorial, Willamette Falls (Tumwater) has been an important fishing site for the Clowewalla (also known as the Willamette Tumwater) and Clackamas Chinook peoples. They controlled access to the falls through inter-tribal relationships . . . — — Map (db m114172) HM
When travelers arrived at the End of the Oregon Trail, they found Willamette Falls, a natural wonder that attracted both those early settlers and the Native Americans who settled here centuries earlier. For the traditional peoples, the main . . . — — Map (db m114034) HM
Stein's Pillar, 350 feet high and 120 feet wide, is a modern day clue to this area's ancient past.
Around forty-four million years ago, avalanches of hot ash, pumice and volcanic dust flowing from local volcanic centers filled this ancient . . . — — Map (db m64448) HM
Height: 80+ feet
Circumference: Approximately 80 feet
Age: 300+ years
This grove of old-growth Ponderosa Pines shaded the extensive lawn of the 1901 A.M. Drake home in the future sited of Bend. Drake's Pilot Butte Development Co. . . . — — Map (db m157654) HM
(Marker #1) Welcome LAVA RIVER CAVE is one of Oregon's longest (5466 feet) uncollapsed lava tubes. About 100,000 years ago, this conduit carried 2000° F. (1100° C.) lava from an upslope vent to lower areas on the flanks of the Newberry . . . — — Map (db m92909)
You may already know about pipelines. Oil, water and gas, chemicals, medicine and food flow to us through pipes and tubes. Pipelines are a naturally efficient way to move fluid from one place to another. Nature constructs marvelous . . . — — Map (db m92910)
Where people lived near obsidian, their lives and cultures were transformed. They used and celebrated the glassy gift of volcanoes to manufacture tools, weapons, jewelry, sculptures, and ceremonial objects. To ancient Central American people, the . . . — — Map (db m72437) HM
The furnaces of the earth brought spectacular change to this land 1300 years ago. A new, rough, glassy environment offered a harsh home for the heartiest plants and animals. Past cultures prized the shiny black rock for their survival. Today, the . . . — — Map (db m72434)
The entire surface of this remarkable flow is glass, a liquid that cooled without crystallizing. The striking differences you see from rock to rock are due to the number and size of bubbles.
Why is everything glass?
Whether natural or . . . — — Map (db m72435)
First came a violent eruption of pumice and ash. Then glassy lava oozed from the ground.
(Graphic Index)
1 Magma Chamber
From deep hot regions, liquid rock called magma accumulated in a chamber 2 to 4 miles (3 to 6 km) below the . . . — — Map (db m72436)
Ages ago a river flowed across the high desert country in the rock canyon several hundred yards beyond this marker. The prehistoric river drained a large Ice Age lake that formed from the blocking of normal drainage in the area by lava flows. The . . . — — Map (db m157842) HM
The dark layers of Picture Gorge were formed from seventeen distinct floods of lava flowing from nearby cracks in the earth. These basalt flows joined with others covering much of eastern Washington and Oregon, and northern Idaho, beginning about 16 . . . — — Map (db m71521)
Upper plaque:
National Monument
Set aside by
President Taft
July 12, 1909
Lower plaque: Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Regulations require that all persons entering . . . — — Map (db m63167) HM
Canyon Formation
Constant flow of water over the volcanic basalt rock carved the 2,100-foot long canyon. With no way for the water to expand to the sides, the river bed was forced to depths of about 100 feet.
Evolution of . . . — — Map (db m112805) HM
About 6,800 years ago, at the climax of a series of dramatic eruptions, the top of Mt. Mazama collapsed. Left behind was the huge crater, or caldera, you see today. But before the caldera filled with water, there were more eruptions.
The . . . — — Map (db m63122) HM
When Mt. Mazama collapsed about 6,800 years ago, it left behind evidences of its former self. Like X-ray photos the steep caldera walls reveal the interior of Mt. Mazama before its fall. From this point several pre-collapse volcanic features can be . . . — — Map (db m63119) HM
The collapsed volcano that now holds Crater Lake once stood more than a mile (1.6 km) above the present lake level. Called Mt. Mazama, this massive mountain of overlapping cones was high enough to support a cap of snow all year. During the Ice Age, . . . — — Map (db m62081) HM
The pumice deposits you are now standing on are the product of Mt. Mazama, an explosive volcano that collapsed to form the Crater Lake caldera. Mazama stood about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of here (to your left).
About 7,700 years ago Mt. Mazama . . . — — Map (db m63116) HM
Before Crater Lake existed, the massive 12,000-foot Mount Mazama filled the landscape to the west of Klamath Marsh. A "strata-volcano cluster," it had several different vents, instead of the more common one or two.
The mountain erupted 7,700 . . . — — Map (db m157460) HM
Fort Rock is the remnant of a maar volcano or tuff ring, formed when rising basaltic magma encountered water and exploded violently. The exploded debris – called tuff – fell back to earth around the volcanic vent to form this . . . — — Map (db m113585) HM
They say it happened more than 100,000 years ago.
Molten rock, squeezing its way toward the surface, ran into groundwater. The result?
Great explosions of steam, lake-bed mud, and billions of glass shards.
Wave after wave of this boiling . . . — — Map (db m113570) HM
Devil's Punchbowl is a hole in the sandstone terrace. It was formed by the collapse of the roof where two sea caves met, one from the north and the other from the west. Water enters the bowl at high tide, and during storms its churning and foaming . . . — — Map (db m52157) HM
Below you is the spectacular Devil’s Punch Bowl which was formed when the roof over two sea caves collapsed. You can watch the ocean waves crash through openings in the sandstone, continually sculpting this unusual formation.
At high tide, the . . . — — Map (db m92643) HM
The Owyhee River originates in Nevada, courses through Idaho and flows into the Snake River in Oregon. Most of the Owyhee River Canyon is managed by the Bureau of Land Management with the rest under Bureau of Reclamation, State of Oregon, and . . . — — Map (db m138532) HM
Between 20 and 15 million years ago, the region from north-central Washington to northeastern California experienced a series of volcanic eruptions and basalt lava floods that covered thousands of square miles. These ancient lava floods often dammed . . . — — Map (db m107207) HM
Overland emigration between 1840 and 1863 brought over 50,000 pioneers to Oregon. Seven miles west of Malheur Butte, weary Oregon Trail emigrants camped at the Malheur River crossing, taking advantage of local hot springs and the first good water . . . — — Map (db m107208) HM
The prominent monolith across the river was named Beacon Rock by Lewis and Clark, November 2, 1805. It marked the beginning of tidewater for early river explorers who used it for a landmark in their journeys. The Indians say that when the Chinook . . . — — Map (db m34643) HM
In early November 1805, the Corps of Discovery entered the upper Columbia River estuary. The western Columbia Gorge was a setting of awe-inspiring beauty. Towering cliffs rose above the river. Dense forests of cottonwood, alder, maple, and . . . — — Map (db m158626) HM
Stretching from rainforest to desert, and from sea level to mountains, the Columbia Gorge provides a wide range of habitat for plants and animals. The Wahkeena Creek watershed is only one example of a unique gorge ecosystem.
Wahkeena Falls. . . . — — Map (db m91210) HM
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the two great American explores who made secure claim of the United States for the Oregon Country, passed along this stretch of the Columbia River with their Corp of Discovery on their way to the Pacific Ocean on . . . — — Map (db m158543) HM
A tireless leader in Columbia River development, park enhancement, preservation of scenic beauty, establishment of Vista House, re-creation of the Lewis and Clark Trail, and countless other good works, he left his mark on the Oregon Country, and we . . . — — Map (db m91293) HM
Visited by over two million people a year, Multnomah Falls is the second-highest year-round waterfall in the United States and one of 77 on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. Multnomah Creek, created by underground springs from Larch . . . — — Map (db m91119) HM
If driving the highway now is nerve-wracking, imagine traveling through here before it was build! The 1,680-foot high Neahkahnie Mountain is one of the most treacherous headlands on the coast.
Native residents once traveled by canoe or on foot to . . . — — Map (db m113734) HM
You are standing on the west shoulder of Neahkahnie Mountain - at 1,661 feet, it is one of the highest points on Oregon’s coast. The mountain’s name is said to be a Native American word for “home of the supreme being.” This basalt, . . . — — Map (db m113768) HM
Hat Rock is evidence of on of the most remarkable geologic events of all time.
Around 17 million years ago, when prehistoric rhinoceros and camel roamed here, a chain of events began that drastically changed this region. A series of . . . — — Map (db m158691) HM
As they passed Hat Rock, the explorers were just beginning the most exciting phase of their journey... reaching their goal. .
The Corps of Discovery had endured months of hardship, especially the bitter cold and hunger in the seemingly . . . — — Map (db m158689) HM
Plunging to a depth of a mile and a half and averaging 10 miles in width, Hells Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America. Its walls are an open book, revealing four significant chapters in the geologic history of the Pacific Northwest.
. . . — — Map (db m71729)
In 1975, Congress created the 652,488 - acre Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. It is managed by the USDA Forest Service under the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area offers a variety of exceptional . . . — — Map (db m71732)
The geologic story of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is a tale of fire and water...of molten lava erupted from volcanoes and oozed through cracks in the earth...of rushing water, erosion and sedimentation...of building up and wearing . . . — — Map (db m71730)
Where many exciting adventures await you! Explore the rugged canyons, climb the spectacular mountains or ride the Snake River’s rapids in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
In Oregon, forested draws and grassy benches plunge 7,000 feet . . . — — Map (db m71731)
Wallowa Lake fills a depression that was formerly occupied by a great river of ice that flowed out of the high Wallowa mountains to the south. This glacier reached its greatest size in the late Pleistocene age, about 12 to 40 thousand years ago. As . . . — — Map (db m111368) HM
"...at three in the evening we arrived at the entrance to Quinnette creek (known today as Mill Creek) which we ascended a short distance and encamped at the place we have called rock fort camp." - Meriwether Lewis, April 13, 1806 . . . — — Map (db m158415) HM
Straining to scent a water source, searching for a tender leaf, sensing immediate danger – to live in this near-desert today, mule deer, coyotes, quail, and humans must possess special skills and abilities. Without them they cross the . . . — — Map (db m71701)
Volcanic ash can be gentle and fine enough to preserve a leaf’s structure in great detail. Nearby 34 million-year-old “Bridge Creek Flora” fossils reveal many species of an ancient, hardwood forest. This forest had a blend of trees found . . . — — Map (db m71700)
Clues exposed at the surface help the nearby hills tell their story. Most were formed from abundant volcanic ash-falls and floods of lava over many millions of years. About five million years ago the land-building slowed and erosion cut down into . . . — — Map (db m71673)
(Three panel make up this marker.)
Climate changed doesn't happen overnight, nor is it a smooth process. The Painted Hills contain a record of both long term climate change as well as the fluctuations that occurred along the way. As . . . — — Map (db m158073) HM
The ground before you is like a puzzle. A long streak of color breaks off, then seems to continue in the next hill, but at a different level. To connect the pieces, look for similar color, thickness, and sequence in a series of layers.
Ash and . . . — — Map (db m71699)
The 90-ton glacial erratic rock at the top of this 1/4-mile-long trail is a stranger from a distant location—it was transported here thousands of years ago on an iceberg in the wake of a cataclysmic flood.
During the last Ice Age, . . . — — Map (db m68913)
