Mount Bachelor, Oregon

Turn right (from Bend via the Cascade Lakes Highway) into entrance road to Sunrise Lodge; follow road 0.3 miles to parking lot. Bring lunch, water, and suitable clothing. Be prepared for cold winds and foul weather. The only restrooms are located in the lower level of the lodge. Ride the Sunrise Lift to mid-mountain, walk over to the Summit Lift, and ride it to the top.

Bachelor81_aerial_mount_bachelor_1981.jpg Aerial view, Mount Bachelor. USGS Photograph taken in 1981 by W.E. Scott. [medium size] ... [large size] ... [TIF Format, 24 M]

The summit of Mount Bachelor has numerous vents, most of which discharged basaltic andesite lava flows. The summit vents and plugs exposed in the headwall of the cirque are arrayed in a northwest-southeast-trending cluster that forms an elongate summit ridge. The vents are marked mostly by low, blocky domes but also by several shallow collapse craters. Pyroclastic material is scarce, forming only a few remnants of cones of dense scoria that are older than most of the domes vents. The scarcity of pyroclastic material at the summit and on the flanks of the cone indicate that at least the latter summit eruptions were dominantly effusive.

Views from the summit include Newberry volcano to the southeast and the Mount Bachelor volcanic chain to the south. Farther to the south and southwest, numerous shield volcanoes form the bulk of the High Cascades. Diamond Peak, Mount Thielsen, and Mount Scott (on the east side of Crater Lake) are prominent distant peaks. To the southwest and west, the upper Deschutes River valley contains several lakes dammed by lava flows. The four northern ones (Sparks, Elk, Hosmer, and, except for brief periods, Lava) have no surface outlets; water drains out through the permeable post-glacial lava flows and emerges as springs along the down-valley margins of the flows. Little Lava Lake (and, during high water, Lava Lake) usually forms the head of the Deschutes River. The Three Sisters, Broken Top, and the silicic highland of Taylor (1981) (renamed the Tumalo volcanic center by Hill, 1988, and Hill and Taylor, 1989) east of Broken Top dominate the northern view, with Three-Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, and Mount Adams in the distance.

Summer sightseeing begins in July and runs through September. For more information on dates, times, and prices call 1-800-829-2442 -- Information courtesy Mt. Bachelor Inc. Website, May 1999

Excerpts from:
Scott, Gardner, Sarna-Wojcicki, (eds.), 1989, Guidebook for Field Trip to the Mount Bachelor-South Sister-Bend Area, Central Oregon High Cascades: USGS Open-File Report 89-645; and Scott and Gardner, 1990, Field Trip Guide to the Central Oregon High Cascades: Oregon Geology, v.52, n.5 and n.6; Scott, 1990, IN: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p.