09 – Coffeepot Crater
The 27-square-mile ovaline lava flow of Jordan Craters is one of the most recent volcanic flows in Oregon — so much so that locals claim that you can still see bootprints in places. The origin of the flow is Coffeepot Crater, a deep cavity at the far northeast of the flow. Walking in and around Coffeepot and exploring its side pits, tubes and caves makes for a great journey on a landscape like the surface of the moon. From where you parked your car, a straightforward loop around the rim and down the red cinder path into the heart of the crater is about 1 mile (but you’ll no doubt find trenches and tubes to explore on your way). The path down into the crater descends about 150 feet.
More Information
From a challenge member check-in a few years ago:
Just a note of caution if you look at google maps or your garmin maps you will see a number of little roads that connect from the junction of mcbride creek road and succor creek down towards the coffeepot crater DO NOT BELIEVE THEM we spend several fun filled hours slogging thru bogs and going up dead end rock trails to find the roads simply do not exisit any more A local rancher confirmed that most of what the gps says is crap go out to 95 and down to jordan craters road!
nohvccbob
Coordinates: 43.14709, -117.45904
Elevation: 4559 ft
Difficulty: 3
What to Expect: No info
Check In
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Mostly maintained gravel roads.
I took the day off to knock of several outstanding challenge sites. Rode the back country byway for the first time. Rained last night, roads soupy and slippy. I was 2-up with my wife. We had a great time.
Managed to destroy my front brake on the way out of here 🙁
Very cool spot and it’s a short walk to the caldron.
This is a remarkably defined volcanic crater with out flows clearly visible. Long gravel 2 follow by a shortish pretty easy 3. Best part beside the crater is the drop to Birch Creek is very near.
some very soft gravel sections that catch you out.
Craters of the moon is better 😁
This was the second to last stop for me. The road out from the 95 was dry and dusty. Also the sign on the last few turns shows 4WD recomended. I was expecting somthing a tad challanging. I will rate this at a 2 due to some loose/deep gravel in spots. I also had cell service at the crater! AT&T.
Perfect riding weather yesterday. I continue to be amazed at the places we’re going to on this Challenge! I’d rate the road a 2 only because we were saying that we thought a Camry could have made it to the Crater turnaround.
What a great spot to visit in our own backyard to observe an amazing volcanic crater and different kinds of lava flows. The hike around the crater is short and worth while to see some of the other geologic features. Thankful for the breeze as it was hot!
Nice ride in
Fun ride
Yeah, well Alec decided to lead us through the bogs and roads that do not connect (blocked by a stream with a nice pickup truck stuck in the water. After backtracking, and going around to Jordan Craters road, we were able to pick up both Birch Creek Ranch and this site!
Came here in 2019 doing a 5 day ’round steens mountain’ trip and it was thunder and lightning. Much more pleasant today 🙂
I could have used a cup of coffee upon arrival…..clutch was acting up.
For the most part it was easy going, then it was just the last few miles made me wish I had a smaller bike.
This was a neat spot and easy to get to. Rating a 3 only because the last two or so miles was not a graded dirt road.
It was a great ride but a little windy.
I agree with the comment hit this one first. Birch creek is a bit harder for sure. I thought this was pretty tame a couple of short sections with some off camber and larger rocks but really pretty easy. The crater is awesome!
Tagged along on Dan’s ride, we hit this after Birch Creek Ranch. From the intersection where you choose to go down to Birch Creek or to the crater, it’s 6 miles to Birch and only 3 to the crater.
If you aren’t sure about your ability to head down to Birch Creek, go here first! It has some technical riding at the end with a bit of an off camber gravel road and some rocky bits. However, it isn’t as steep or long as the access to Birch Creek, so it’s a good test of your abilities.
Hit the Craters as the last spot on great ride. Didn’t climb to the top this time, but it’s always a cool area if you have some time to explore the lava flows.
Jordan Craters is an enormous amazing site. There’s just a little bit of level 3 road for the last descent to the check-in point with many miles of level 2 gravel road getting there.
Another fun site. This is a good spot to hit after Birch Creek Ranch and about the same difficulty getting in. Expect some water crossings, ruts in the road, loose gravel, and the occasional rattlesnake. Doable on a larger adventure bike, but know more about Birch Creek (GPX file can be found on my checkin there) before attempting.
A great little place to look at all the lava formations. Early spring is a beautiful time to get in here.
This was the first site on day 2 of our trip after camping at the historical ranch site. Nice climb out of the gorge with a few water crossings to wake us up. The view of the crater and lava flow was amazing!
I really enjoyed checking out this site. There is a hill of rock you can walk up on to get a better view down into the crater. There was a good amount of water crossings to get to this location at the time we visited on 4/13 so I was able to get some experience riding through those. Some ruts in the roads going into that area but nothing too terrible. We kept a fast pace on these trails and the scenery was amazing. Views into the distance for days. You really feel like you are on an adventure out there.