Dana Johnson Photography

Created 26 March 2009, Updated 25 June 2009

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Bessie Butte:  After the Fire

Above:  Bessie Butte is seen here from the summit of nearby Cabin Butte.

Photos and text by Mr. Dana Johnson (except where noted)
Copyright 2009 Dana Johnson Enterprises, all rights reserved, duplication in part or in whole is prohibited without written consent of the author/photographer/webmaster.
Photos are available as high-resolution prints to your size and specifications, or for download of up to 10 megapixels.  Contact Mr. Johnson for details.

For additional photo pages, visit these links below:

Bend's First Lutheran Church - History and Architecture

Birds of Bend and Central Oregon

Nature in Central Oregon

Photo Tour of Bend and Central Oregon

Rockchucks/Yellow-bellied Marmots/Whistle Pigs

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Elk Encounter

Southeast of Bend, Oregon, about 5 miles off U.S. Highway 97, China Hat Road (U.S.F.S. Forest Road 18) curves south to face Bessie Butte, an extinct cinder cone volcano that stands prominently above the surrounding Deschutes National Forest.


Above:  Forest Road 18 (China Hat Road) curves south as it approaches Bessie Butte.
Scorched lodgepole pines serve as a stark reminder of the devastating 18 Fire of 2003.

Whether you're a casual hiker or an experienced trekker, Bessie Butte offers an adventurous walk with a view on a 3/4 mile trail that spirals around the dome-shaped cinder cone to its summit.

Above:  Forest Road 1810 branches south off of China Hat Road to wind
around the base of Bessie Butte before continuing south into the Paulinas.

As Road 18 curves again toward the west, a right turn directs you down Forest Road 1810 to the roadside trailhead of the Bessie Butte Summit trail.  Follow the trail 3/4 mile to the top of the bare butte and take in the vista.  For decades, the butte  was covered in lodgepole pine.  That all changed in 2003.


Above:  Bessie Butte Trailhead begins on the east side of the butte and off the
west shoulder of Forest Road 1810, about a quarter mile south of China Hat Road.

In July 2003, the 18 Fire, so named for Forest Road 18 (China Hat Road) which it intersected, burned approximately 3,810 acres on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest.  The 18 Fire Recovery Project area is located approximately 3.5 miles southeast of the city of Bend, Oregon, and ranges in elevation from 4,200 to 5,120 feet.
 Source:  www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/projects/units/bendrock/18fire/18-fire-rod.shtml


Above:  From half way up the Bessie Butte Trail, the view to the north reveals the path of the 18 Fire.
Pale blue plastic tubes protect seedlings planted in 2006.  Pilot Butte is seen to the north about 7 miles away.


Above: Farther up Bessie Butte Trail, the view to the northwest yields a greener forest spared from the 2003 fire.


Above:  In another view from near the summit of Bessie Butte, the Oregon Cascades
are visible through the haze of a warm September morning, 2008.


Above:  Storm clouds loom over Bessie Butte in this photo from June 3rd, 2009.

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