Rocky Butte

(Sorry for the rotten image..)

Not much opportunity for a decent photo today. Bill was anxious to get home so I couldn't talk him into a side trip, and it was foggy day. I snapped a photo of Rocky Butte from the freeway. It is volcanic in origin and a popular spot to see the views of the east side of Portland. Well, when it's a decent day, it's popular.


Rocky Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone butte in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is one of four, along with Kelly Butte, Powell Butte, and Mount Tabor, inside the city that are each home to a city park, Rocky Butte playing host to Joseph Wood Hill Park. A rotating beacon at the summit of the butte is visible for miles. It is also part of the Boring Lava Field, a group of over 30 cinder cones in Oregon and Washington. The slopes of Rocky Butte are also home of the Rocky Butte Natural Area. In addition, it was formerly home to a jail and Judson Baptist College. Currently it is the location of a City Bible Church campus, Portland Bible College and City Christian Schools. It lies next to Interstate 205.

Formerly known as Wiberg Butte, a large quantity of rock was removed from the quarry on the east face of Rocky Butte in the 1940s for use in a new Multnomah County jail. After the jail was demolished in the 1980s, much of the stone was reused along the Historic Columbia River Highway. In the early 1900s, the Union Pacific Railroad had a spur into the east side of the Butte at a station named Quarry. This is also a popular place for rock climbing.