It’s hard to believe that 18,000 years ago a gigantic ice cap covered the Cascade Range, up to 2,000’ thick and 170 miles long. Glaciers filled nearly every canyon with moving ice, sculpting the landscape. Much evidence of this glaciation is lost to erosion and volcanic activity, but is still well-preserved today in the headwaters of the Little Deschutes River. Here one finds a classic U-shaped canyon, 1,500’ deep with moraines and a meandering stream, easily explored on a 2-mile trail (one way) and cross-country forays.

Of all the buttes in Central Oregon, only a few are hydrovolcanoes, where rising magma intermixed explosively with surface water (such as a lake or underground aquifer) to form a layered ring of solidified volcanic rock known as tuff. One of the more accessible but less-visited of these picturesque tuff rings is Moffitt Butte, just a 50-minute drive south from Bend, off of Hwy 31. Here a 2.6-mile (roundtrip) closed road hike leads up into the tuff ring with long sweeping views, plus cross-county treks to dramatic tuff formations around the rim.

Tucked away in a nearly-forgotten corner of Deschutes National Forest, just an hour’s drive west from Culver, the hike along the Lower Metolius River follows a long-abandoned road for 3 miles over riverside terraces and through stands of old-growth incense cedars and firs. The star attraction here, though, is the local population of ospreys, a species of fish hawk that nests in the top of large snags near the river. Hikers during summer will be treated to the aerial displays of these soaring raptors, overhead and around their large stick nests.

Fifteen thousand years ago, the Cascade Range was covered with a massive ice cap, up to a half-mile thick and extending 170 miles from Mt. Hood south to Mt. McLoughlin. As the climate warmed, a disjunct population of Alaska yellow cedars was left behind in a unique glacial bowl, known as Echo Basin, where cold air collects and pools. Just an hour’s drive from Bend, this basin and its old-growth cedars can be explored on a 2.5-mile loop hike, along with alpine meadows and glorious wildflower displays in late spring and summer.

The very name “sphagnum bog” conjures up a vision of the Scottish moors — a dark, stagnate, acidic wetland with low fertility, tea-colored water and perhaps a well-preserved Iron Age bog body or two. But the misnamed Sphagnum Bog found just inside the west boundary of Crater Lake National Park is nothing of the sort. It’s actually a fen, fed by mineral-rich, alkaline spring water that supports a diversity of peat-adapted plants. A forested 2.3-mile trail leads to Sphagnum Bog, which can then be explored on a cross-country ramble.

There’s nothing quite like walking an old pioneer wagon road to bring immediacy to Central Oregon’s history. One can almost hear the creaking of the freight wagons and the “hee” and “haw” shouts of the mule drivers. Operated as a private toll road, the Santiam Wagon Road was a vital route across the Cascade Mountains from the late 1860s to the 1930s. Today, from late spring to early fall, one can walk a well-preserved section of this pioneer road on a shady 3.0-mile hike, which winds through stately groves of old-growth Douglas fir.

Located on the northern edge of the Fort Rock Basin 60 miles south of Bend, the Devils Garden Lava Field is a 45 square mile maze of lava tubes, spatter cones, tumuli and kipukas. These broad flows of pahoehoe lava are not barren like many in Central Oregon, but feature ponderosa, juniper and mountain mahogany. This flora supports a rich variety of wildlife, including mule deer, bighorn sheep and fabled “lava bears.” Best of all, it's easily explored on a 2.1-mile jeep road hike through the lava field to pine-covered Little Garden kipuka.

Central Oregon has its share of spring-fed rivers — the Metolius, the Cultus, the Quinn and Fall River — but none of these enters the world quite so dramatically as the Rogue River at Boundary Springs. Gushing down the hillside over colorful, moss-covered rocks and logs, these headwater springs are unique. A good 2.5-mile hiking trail starts on Forest Service land just north of Crater Lake National Park and follows the river canyon (mostly spared from an encircling 2015 wildfire) upstream to the springs across the Park boundary.

It was one of Oregon’s highest peaks, over 12,000’ in elevation. It was taller than Mt. Hood and more massive than Mt. Jefferson. But in a matter of hours 7,700 years ago, it disappeared in one cataclysmic explosion, sending ash deposits as far away as Canada and hot pumice flows hundreds of feet thick up to 25 miles from today’s Crater Lake. The distinctive, white-colored signature layer of these tephra deposits can be found throughout Central Oregon today, revealing itself at trailside or on riverbanks when least expected.

Once a shallow 2,000-acre lake, which was filled by volcanic ash during the eruption of Mt. Mazama 7,700 years ago, Big Marsh today is one of the largest, high-elevation wetland/marshes in the nation. A half-hour drive west of Highway 97 from Crescent, it’s a one-of-a-kind resource supporting a wide diversity of Central Oregon wildlife — from elk, to river otters, to sandhill cranes — plus the largest population of threatened spotted frogs in Oregon. A 2.4-mile cross-country ramble invites visitors to explore this natural wonder.