Oregon’s Strangest, Most Otherworldly Natural Wonders

Every summer, Mt. Hood’s 85-acre Lost Lake drains down to small lava tubes, this one about six feet in diameter. The giant basin fills back up in the rainier months.

The John Day Fossil Beds comprise a vast area of some of Oregon’s most astonishing landscapes . Here, the raised boardwalk of the short Painted Cove Trail takes you through an alien Martian landscape.

Photograph by Sam Strickler

The John Day Fossil Beds comprise a vast area of some of Oregon’s most astonishing landscapes . Here, the raised boardwalk of the short Painted Cove Trail takes you through an alien Martian landscape.

Photograph by Sam Strickler

Okay, this one’s technically on the Washington side of the Columbia River. But since it’s visible from miles around, we’re happy to claim the Northern Hemisphere’s second largest freestanding monolith as our own. You can scale the 850-foot rock from the back via a trail of 51 switchbacks.

Photograph by Kennstilger47

Okay, this one’s technically on the Washington side of the Columbia River. But since it’s visible from miles around, we’re happy to claim the Northern Hemisphere’s second largest freestanding monolith as our own. You can scale the 850-foot rock from the back via a trail of 51 switchbacks.

Photograph by Kennstilger47

Once serving as a ceremonial tree for local tribes, this Kraken-like Sitka spruce has sat on the Oregon coast for the past 250 years, According to oral history, the tree was slowly molded into its present shape to hold canoes and other ceremonial objects. Find it now within walking distancing of Cape Meares Lighthouse.

Photograph by Alicia Mueller/Creative Commons

This open structure was built 80 years ago on top of an old lava flow on McKenzie Pass in the Cascades.

Photograph by Joe Klune

This open structure was built 80 years ago on top of an old lava flow on McKenzie Pass in the Cascades.

Photograph by Joe Klune

This stunning sinkhole off Cape Perpetua is not actually bottomless, but it does seem like it’s draining the ocean away. You’ll still want to keep your distance, though.

Photograph by Jared Ropelato

This stunning sinkhole off Cape Perpetua is not actually bottomless, but it does seem like it’s draining the ocean away. You’ll still want to keep your distance, though.

Photograph by Jared Ropelato

Suggesting the whitened ruins of classical Rome, these clay formations in Southeastern Oregon along the border stand guard against barbaric Visigoths (and Idahoans).

Photograph by Charles Knowles

Suggesting the whitened ruins of classical Rome, these clay formations in Southeastern Oregon along the border stand guard against barbaric Visigoths (and Idahoans).

Photograph by Charles Knowles

Eleven miles north of Florence, this crowded sea lion hangout is a constant cacophony of barking, even when the fog prevents you from actually seeing any animals.

Photograph by Checubus

Eleven miles north of Florence, this crowded sea lion hangout is a constant cacophony of barking, even when the fog prevents you from actually seeing any animals.

Photograph by Checubus

Famously serving as the inspiration for Frank Herbert’s sand-covered planet Arrakis in Dune, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area span 40 miles up and down the Southern Oregon coast, making it the largest such area in the US.

Photograph by Kennstilger47

Famously serving as the inspiration for Frank Herbert’s sand-covered planet Arrakis in Dune, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area span 40 miles up and down the Southern Oregon coast, making it the largest such area in the US.

Photograph by Kennstilger47

This 30-foot tall tree trunk has been gently bobbing up and down in Crater Lake for at least 120 years. Despite its advanced age, it still gets around pretty well—meaning you never exactly where on the lake it might show up.

Photograph by Markgorzynski

This 30-foot tall tree trunk has been gently bobbing up and down in Crater Lake for at least 120 years. Despite its advanced age, it still gets around pretty well—meaning you never exactly where on the lake it might show up.

Photograph by Markgorzynski

Located in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in the Deschutes National Forest, this lava field bears witness to old trees, which left behind rock casts in the ground as the lava burned them away.

Photograph by B.D.’s world/Flickr

Located in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in the Deschutes National Forest, this lava field bears witness to old trees, which left behind rock casts in the ground as the lava burned them away.

Photograph by B.D.’s world/Flickr

Once serving as a ceremonial tree for local tribes, this Kraken-like Sitka spruce has sat on the Oregon coast for the past 250 years, According to oral history, the tree was slowly molded into its present shape to hold canoes and other ceremonial objects. Find it now within walking distancing of Cape Meares Lighthouse.

Photograph by Alicia Mueller/Creative Commons

Paddle across this crystal clear, freezing lake and you’ll see the remains of ancient trees that were drowned when the lake was formed some 3,000 years ago.

Photograph by Thomas Shahan/Flickr

Another treasure in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, these flamboyantly coloreds hills are a staggering sight to hikers and tourists, as well as paleontologists on the hunt for ancient fossils.

Photograph by Craig Hanson

Another treasure in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, these flamboyantly coloreds hills are a staggering sight to hikers and tourists, as well as paleontologists on the hunt for ancient fossils.

Photograph by Craig Hanson

Paddle across this crystal clear, freezing lake and you’ll see the remains of ancient trees that were drowned when the lake was formed some 3,000 years ago.

Photograph by Thomas Shahan/Flickr