Glass Buttes — High Desert Obsidian Flow and Rockhound Summit

Glass Buttes rise out of the flat sage scrub between Riley and Burns like a dark secret. The entire hill is laced with obsidian — black, mahogany, rainbow, and red — weathering right out of the surface. You can walk the flanks and fill your pockets legally under BLM rockhounding rules (up to 25 lbs per person per day for personal use). The summit sits around 5,900 feet and delivers a 360-degree read on the high desert plateau that defines this stretch of the Oregon BDR central segment.

Access is off US-20 roughly 75 miles east of Bend — a short, easily navigable dirt road off the highway puts you at the base. No services, no water, no shade worth mentioning. Cell signal is effectively zero. Best visited spring through fall; winter snow can coat the upper flanks and make the approach slick. Watch your footing — fresh obsidian edges cut like surgical steel.

Free obsidian. Sharp edges. Real geology.