(There is no crater. )
Here is a similar view of Lava Butte.
(You can see the crater.)
Bend is one of four cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. Portland, with Mount Tabor, is the only other city in Oregon with a volcano, Powell Butte (an extinct cinder cone volcano,) within its city limits. Jackson Volcano in Jackson, Mississippi, and Diamond Head in Honolulu are the others.
Pilot Butte is a cinder cone, a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash or cinders that have fallen around a volcanic vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a cone. Most cones have a central crater at the top. To the left, at the base of the butte, you will see where red cinders were taken and used for paving roads. Fortunately, this practice was stopped, but I remember county roads being paved with the red cinders.
Photo by Cacophony – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4241333
Link to Pilot Butte Wikipedia page. Early travelers arrived at the town from the east and the butte became a marker on the horizon, thus “pilot”.
The 114.22-acre (46.22 ha) Pilot Butte State Scenic Viewpoint, was presented as a gift to the State of Oregon in 1928 from the Foley family. Terry Foley, BHS Class of 1q60, shared this information.
(hoping to find a clearer picture of this classic view)
NOTE: Contrary to what you may think, Pilot Butte was not our main make-out spot. (We had others. Send in your spots, haha.)