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The Atlas/Oregon/Dee Wright Observatory

Dee Wright Observatory

Dee Wright Observatory is a stone tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, perched atop a vast black lava field at the 5,187-foot summit of McKenzie Pass on Oregon Route 242. Through the observatory's porthole windows, riders can sight named Cascade peaks — North Sister, Middle Sister, South Sister, Mount Washington, and Mount Jefferson — across miles of hardened lava. A quarter-mile paved lava trail circles the flow. OR-242 (Old McKenzie Highway) is closed to motor vehicles from November through early July due to snow; when open it is one of Oregon's premier motorcycle roads.

Oregon
Region
Attraction
Stop type
McKenzie Pass / Old McKenzie Highway (OR-242)
On the route
// Why riders stop

The centerpiece stop on OR-242: an unmistakable CCC stone observatory on a moonscape lava field with framed views of five Cascade peaks — the kind of stop riders plan their whole McKenzie Pass run around.

On the way: McKenzie Pass / Old McKenzie Highway (OR-242)

// Rider photos

Shot by the riders who've run it.

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// Nearby & related
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