Boyd Cave: Oh, Boyd! For a low-threshold caving experience, it’s tough to beat Boyd Cave, a lava tube located about 9 miles out China Hat Road from Knott Road in southeast Bend. Bring layers for warmth and one or two light sources for exploring the 1,880-foot tunnel. The section closer to the entrance of the cave, which is entered via a steep metal staircase, is also the easiest portion to navigate if you’re not fond of crawling short distances to get farther back.

The Badlands: Located just about 20 minutes east of Bend, in a perfectly good bit of High Desert, is the Oregon Badlands Wilderness Area, a 29,180-acre wilderness with close to 50 miles of trails to explore volcanic pressure ridges of this shield volcano via foot or horseback. According to the Bureau of Land Management, “Most of the area includes the rugged Badlands volcano, which has features of inflated lava. Windblown volcanic ash and eroded lava make up the sandy, light-colored soil that covers the low and flat places in these fields of lava.”

Lava Butte: The Lava Butte Visitor Center is the informational hub for Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which is situated about 25 miles to the south. While the visitor center doesn’t open for the season till May 6, don’t let that stop you from paying a visit and hiking the cinder road up Lava Butte, a 500-foot cinder cone, or the sprawling, 7,000-year-old lava flow below, where in 1966 astronauts trained for walking on the moon.