Nature
Maiden Peak rises in the central Oregon Cascades on the Cascade Crest between Mount Bachelor and Diamond Peak as the highest point along that 43-mile stretch. A steep-sided shield volcano, it was shaped by both volcanism and glaciation: a steeper cinder cone forms its summit, and Ice Age glaciers carved a large cirque into its northeast flank, exposing hardened magma in the volcano’s conduits as rock pinnacles. Its commanding summit also drew human use, with a Forest Service fire lookout tower standing there from 1923 to 1958. Today, a 5.8-mile trail from the southwest climbs to the top through this striking volcanic landscape.
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Crescent Lake, Oregon · United States