Located in the Cascade Range at 5,187 feet, this mountain observatory offers panoramic views across 65 square miles of black lava rock that looks so much like a moonscape that in 1964, NASA conducted drills with astronauts as they prepared to travel to the moon. Completed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the observatory was named in memory of Dee Wright, the crew’s foreman who passed away the year before.

Trees at D. Wright Conservatory
Lake at D. Wright Conservatory
View at D. Wright Conservatory
View at D. Wright Conservatory
Hike at D. Wright Conservatory
Viewpoint at D. Wright Conservatory
View at D. Wright Conservatory
View at D. Wright Conservatory
Approaching the lake at D. Wright Conservatory
Approaching the lake at D. Wright Conservatory
Expanse of volcanic rock at D. Wright Conservatory
Approaching D. Wright Conservatory
Understory at D. Wright Conservatory
Lake at D. Wright Conservatory
Clearing at D. Wright Conservatory
Canopy at D. Wright Conservatory
Conversation at D. Wright Conservatory
Volcanic Rock at D. Wright Conservatory
Observers atop D. Wright Conservatory
Charred logs at D. Wright Conservatory
Reflections at D. Wright Conservatory