By Living Room Realty, September 4, 2020
The snow-topped peak of Mt Hood on the eastern horizon is a familiar sight for those in the Portland Metro Area. Our horizon is dotted with volcanoes. If you’re lucky, on a clear day you can spot Mt Hood, the flat-topped Mt St. Helens, Mt Rainier to the North, as well as Mt Adams and Mt Jefferson.
With all this amazing natural beauty surrounding us we often claim in Oregon that one of the things we love about living here is that volcanic hikes are practically right in our backyard. Sometimes, it is genuinely true!
I recently worked with a client in a beautiful spot in the East Hill neighborhood of Gresham. The property itself is on a great cul-de-sac and has an amazing backyard. However, just beyond the back fence is a whole world of close-to-home nature to explore. East Hill sits amongst the East Buttes, dormant cinder cones that are part of the much larger Boring Lava Field.
That’s right, volcanoes aren’t just skyline decoration, they’re in your yard.
The Boring Lava field includes famously Mount Tabor, Powell Butte and Rocky Butte in Portland but most of the lava field’s 80 (dormant!) cones are topped innocuously with houses and neighborhoods. The few cones that are surrounded by neighborhoods but not topped with them often have walking trails and stand out as nature oases in the urban landscape.
My client’s new home happens to back right up against Gabbert Butte. They have four miles of forested trail right at their fingertips! Not bad for a volcano in the backyard.
