Pinnacles Overlook (eroded ash spires)
— — pale spires where the ash cooled standing up.
Not only on a wall.
“The Pinnacles sit at the end of a seven-mile spur road off Crater Lake's East Rim Drive. Pale fumarole spires up to one hundred feet tall rise from the walls of Sand Creek canyon, carved out of pumice and ash from the eruption of Mount Mazama almost eight thousand years ago. Most rim visitors miss the road entirely; the canyon stays quiet most afternoons.
Pinnacles Overlook (eroded ash spires), on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Pinnacles are eroded volcanic spires in the southeastern corner of Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. They line the upper walls of Sand Creek canyon, reaching as high as one hundred feet, and formed inside the pumice and ash deposit left by the eruption of Mount Mazama roughly 7,700 years ago. The spires are fossil fumaroles, vertical pipes where hot volcanic gases vented through the loose ash and cemented the surrounding material, which then resisted erosion as the softer ash washed away. A short overlook trail runs from the parking area to the canyon rim.
The Pinnacles are not solid rock in the usual sense. The eruption of Mount Mazama buried the surrounding landscape in pumice and ash hundreds of feet deep. As the deposit cooled, hot gases rose through vertical pipes and welded the loose material along each pipe into a harder column. Centuries of erosion in Sand Creek canyon then carried away the softer ash and left the welded pipes standing. Similar formations occur at Bryce Canyon and Cappadocia, but the Pinnacles' tight cluster along one canyon wall is unusual.
The Pinnacles Road runs about seven miles south from the East Rim Drive to the overlook parking lot. The road typically opens in mid-July once snow clears and closes with the first heavy snowfall, often by late October. A short level path from the lot leads to the canyon rim and the best view of the spires; the historic Pinnacles park entrance arch sits at the road's end. Standard park entrance fees apply, and the spur sees far less traffic than the main rim drive even at peak season.