The Obsidian Trail is a very popular lollipop loop that goes into the Three Sisters Wilderness. Because of the uniqueness of the area, with wildflower meadows, lava flows, epic mountain views, and an area entirely covered in obsidian rock, this was turned into a limited entry permit-only area over 20 years ago after it almost got destroyed by all of the people flocking to this little slice of heaven. From June 15 to October 15 there are 30 day use permits and 13 overnight permits available per day that you can get starting the first Tuesday in April each year at recreation.gov.

The trail starts out in a sparse forest where bushels of bear grass bloom in July. After 0.25 miles on your left you will see the connector trail that goes half a mile to the Scott Trail. (If you are looking for a longer loop, you can backpack this Obsidian/Scott Loop which is a total of 17.5 miles). At the 0.9 mile mark you will see a trail going off to the right which leads to Spring Lake. This is a small lake in a burn area at the edge of a lava flow.