Dee Wright Observatory

The stone tower sitting at the 5,187-foot summit of McKenzie Pass was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and completed in 1935, named in memory of Dee Wright — a Forest Service packer and the crew's foreman who died before the work was finished. The CCC cut and stacked the same rough basaltic lava that surrounds it on all sides, so the structure reads as a natural extension of the flow rather than a building dropped onto it. Inside, the windows aren't placed randomly: each one is aligned to frame a specific peak, and a bronze peak-finder on the roof names the surrounding summits and buttes. On a clear day the named peaks include Mount Washington, Mount Jefferson, and the North, Middle, and South Sister; under good conditions Mount Hood is also visible to the north.

The lava underfoot erupted from Yapoah Cone roughly 2,600 to 2,900 years ago, overlapping an earlier flow from Little Belknap Crater — young geology by any measure. The Forest Service describes the surface as A'a lava, characterized by its rough and jagged texture, which matters practically: footing off the paved surfaces is uneven, and the dark rock absorbs heat aggressively on warm days. The adjacent Lava River National Recreation Trail offers a paved half-mile loop through the flow with interpretive panels on the geology and the history of early travelers through the pass.

Access is entirely seasonal. OR-242 is closed to motor vehicles in winter — roughly November through early July, depending on snowpack — so the window for riding it is real but limited. Vehicles over 35 feet are prohibited on the highway, and potable water is not available at the site. Plan fuel and water accordingly before turning onto OR-242 from either direction.