Powell Butte is an extinct cinder cone butte in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Boring Lava Field, which includes more than 80 small volcanic edifices and lava flows in the Portland–Vancouver metropolitan area. The region around Powell Butte has a cool climate, and the butte and its surroundings feature meadows, rivers, and mixed forests. Powell Butte hosts the Powell Butte Nature Park, which includes about of trails for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Powell Butte lies within historic territory of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. The land surrounding the butte has been used for an orchard, farming, and scientific research on potatoes. Today two underground reservoirs at the Butte each hold of fresh water as a primary part of the public water system for Portland and much of the surrounding region. Geography and geology Powell Butte is located in Multnomah County in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, the butte reaches an elevation of , while the Geographic Names Information System lists the mountain's elevation at . J.E. Allen, an emeritus professor of Geology at Portland State University, listed its elevation as in a 1975 publication. Powell Butte is a cinder cone butte and is part of the Plio-Pleistocene Boring Lava Field, a group of volcanic cones that got their name from the low, forested Boring Hills formation. Located in the Portland Basin, the Boring Lava Field consists of monogenetic volcanic cones that appear as hills throughout the area, reaching heights of above their surroundings. The field includes more than 80 small volcanic edifices and lava flows in the Portland–Vancouver metropolitan area, with the possibility of more volcanic deposits buried under sedimentary rock layers. Volcanism in the Boring Lava Field is the product of subduction of the Juan de Fuca oceanic tectonic plate under the North American continental tectonic plate, as well as regional rifting. Powell Butte lies northwest of the Boring Hills, and the surrounding area includes (moving clockwise from the north) other volcanic centers like Green Mountain, Prune Hill, Chamberlain Hill, Devils Rest, Larch Mountain, Pepper Mountain, Kelly Butte, and Mount Tabor. The top of Powell Butte consists of volcanic rock from the Troutdale Formation, on top of which are remnants from a local eruption in the Boring Lava Field, including scoria and volcanic ash. Powell Butte is one of the smaller volcanic