Black Butte was formed before the last Ice Age and because of its unique location, it was one of Oregon’s first fire lookout sites. The 2 mile trail to the top starts at 4,837 ft. and then gains 1,600 feet of elevation in those two short miles, making it a pretty steep hike. The trail starts in an old-growth Ponderosa pine forest and the path is fairly wide and easy to walk on. At the 0.7 mile mark, the trail switchbacks and after a total of 1.1 miles the trail emerges from the forest and from here on you no longer have tree cover.