Lava Beds National Monument Stronghold, which is 450,000 years old. Petroglyph Point was created about 275,000 years ago when cinders erupted through the shallow water of Tule Lake; violent explosions of ash and steam formed layers upon layers of tuff. The caldera is thought to have formed by subsidence, during which basalt and andesite were erupted up on the slopes. Lava flows dated to about 30,000–40,000 years ago formed most of the lava tube caves in the monument. As the hot basaltic lava flowed downhill, the top cooled and crusted over, insulating the rest of the lava and forming lava tubes. Lavacicles on the
Boring Lava Field Boring Lava Field The Boring Lava Field (also known as the Boring Volcanic Field) is an Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field with cinder cones, small shield volcanoes, and lava flows in the northern Willamette Valley of the U. S. state of Oregon. Located southeast of downtown Portland, the field got its name from the town of Boring, Oregon, which lies just to the southeast of the most dense cluster of lava vents. The zone became active about 2.7 million years ago, with long periods of activity interspersed with quiescence. Its last eruptions took place about 57,000 years ago at the Beacon Rock