Lassen Volcanic National Park enjoys a lesser degree of recognition than most national parks in the eyes of average tourists, and this is exactly why Park Junkies should find their way to its gates. Oh, and by the way, if volcanoes are your thing…
Guide to Lassen Volcanic
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Visitors to Lassen are welcome to explore a land of otherworldly features such as the Chaos Crags, Devil’s Kitchen, Bumpass Hell, the Devastated Area, and the Fantastic Lava Beds, to name but a few of the park’s more sinister scenes.
While this area has been home to volcanism for millions of years, many of the features visible in Lassen today were formed by volcanic eruptions during the past 300,000 years and the park is home to more than 30 volcanic domes.
Lassen holds a collection of various volcanic landscapes demonstrating examples of four different types of volcanoes, the only place on earth to do so. Here we find classic representatives of plug dome, shield, cinder cone and stratovolcanoes.
Where is Lassen?
Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northerneastern California, about 55 miles due east of Redding and Interstate 5. There are five entrances to the park, but most visitors will be heading toward either the northwest or southwest entrances to Ca. Highway 89.
Travelers can take Ca. Highway 44 directly from Redding to access the park’s north entrance at Manzanita. From the south, Ca. Highway 36 from Red Bluff to reaches the park’s southern boundary and Highway 89, which leads through the park to Manzanita.
Exploring Lassen
The main north and south entrances link to Highway 89, which is the only route through the park. This route provides access to most of the park’s well known features, if any of Lassen’s features can be considered “well known”.
Kohm Yah-Mah-Nee
Located near the southwestern end of the park, the Kohm Yah-Man-nee Visitor Center is the park’s hub for information. Open year-round, this visitor center provides a few interesting exhibits that detail the volcanic origins of the park, as well as an auditorium where guests can watch a short park film.
Visitors can also take advantage of the gift shop, cafe and dining area, which features a nice warm fireplace that when combined with the free Wi-Fi is a welcome addition during those cold winter visits to the park.
Kohm Yah-mah-nee is home to the Southwest Walk-In Campground, which is open year-round, but will be covered in snow during winter. If visiting the park during the winter, this will be the only accessible entrance to the park, and will provide the park’s only services.
A couple of hiking options depart the area, such as Brokeoff Mountain, and the Mill Creek Falls Trail, which can be combined with the Cold Boiling Lake Trail to reach Bumpass Hell, which is one of the park’s main attractions. These options may not be possible in winter.
Manzanita Lake
The northwest corner of the park is home to Manzanita Lake, and offers some of stellar views of Lassen Peak, which at 10,457′ is the highest point in the park and the largest lava dome on Earth.
It’s easy to spend some idle hours at the lake, which provides a scenic setting for waterspouts, such a swimming, fishing or kayaking if you brought your boat. A number of hiking trails can be accessed from here, such as the short and sweet Lily Pond Trail, or the 7-mile hike along Manzanita Creek.
The Loomis Museum is nearby. This historic building houses a number of exhibits that showcase the park’s history, and a very small auditorium can show the park film as well.
The Manzanita Lake Campground and Cabins can be your home for a few days and make a nice location from which to explore the western side of the park.
Lassen Highway
Kohm Yah-mah-nee and Manzanita Lake are connected by the Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway, which runs among the park’s scenic volcanic landscape for some 30 miles.
This highway is studded with pull-outs and trailheads that offer access to the park’s trail system, which provide more than 150 miles of rugged paths to remove you from your cares.
Drivers will want to check out at least a few of the stops, such as the Sulphur Works, Bumpass Hell, Lake Helen, the Lassen Peak Trailhead, Kings Creek Trail, Summit Lake, or the Devastated Area when making their way north or south along this fantastic roadway.
Check out the activities page for a more complete description of the trails along this route.
Butte Lake
Butte Lake provides a remote location from which visitors can access some of the park’s more bizarre features. Located in the northeast corner of the park, about a 45 minute drive from Manzanita Lake and 6 miles south of Hwy. 44, Butte Lake enjoys freedom from services, so bring what you’ll need.
The Butte Lake Campground is a great place to stay for a couple of nights, and is located next to the Fantastic Lava Beds, in a grove of old growth Jeffery Pines. Numerous activities can occupy your time while visiting the remote area, such as hiking up the Cinder Cone, swimming in Bathtub Lake, or kayaking along the lava rocks on Butte Lake.
Warner Valley
For those who’d like to hike into the Devil’s Kitchen, a cruise into Warner Valley, on the park’s south side will be in order. This out-of-the-way destination is one of the park’s best kept secrets.
Warner Valley doesn’t offer a lot, but it does offer some of the best thermal features in the park. The Devil’s Kitchen is a great place to start the day with a nice sunrise hike to see what the devil has for breakfast, and a lunch at 125ยบ Boiling Springs Lake is always a nice option too.
These trails wind through the quiet grassy meadows of a tranquil glacially-carved valley and through forests ripe with Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, sugar pine and white fir. Keep an eye out for wildlife, as the remote nature of this valley makes it prime home for bear and other creatures who are fond of solitude.
For a real Warner Valley experience, reserve a spot at Drakesbad Guest Ranch, located near the mouth of the valley, just past the trailheads and the crossing of the Pacific Crest Trail. This timeless ranch offers a trip back in time, as the rustic lodge, dining hall and bungalows maintain the spirit of Edward Drake, who homesteaded this valley back in the 1880s. Services are available to both overnight and day guests, but all services require advance reservations.
Juniper Lake
Lassen’s largest lake is found in the southeast corner of the park, at the end of a dirt road that sees much less traffic than it should. This snow-fed lake is home to smooth rocky beaches and clear waters that beg you to just jump right in.
Lakeside campsites at the Juniper Lake Campground offer a perfect home base for the week, although trips to the park’s more popular sights will take a little longer than if staying in one of the larger camps. Nevertheless, the scenery at Juniper Lake is divine, and the trails that depart the lake lead to virtually any point in the park, so you could just set out and hike to wherever you want.
Playtime in Lassen
Visitors will find plenty to do aside from arguing about when the next volcano might blow…
There are more than 150 miles of hiking trails in this park, leading through forests, beside streams and lakes and into the heights of the park’s treeless peaks for views of the Cascade Range and Mt Shasta to the north.
Equestrian pursuits are welcome on most trails and watersport folk will be stoked to jump into a kayak or canoe and cruise around the mountain lakes while casting for catch and release trout.
Backpacking requires a free permit and thus provides those seeking solitude access to the more than 106,000 acres of backcountry wilderness.
Lassen goes Boom!
The area remains an active volcanic land and although Lassen Peak is considered dormant today, a mere century prior to this writing, the place was quite literally hell on Earth.
Between 1914 and 1917, a series of more than 150 volcanic eruptions occurred, sending ash, mud and gasses into the sky, rippling the earth with lava flows that devastated lower forests while earthquakes shook the land from below.
This intricate piece of earth lies in the Cascade Mountains of northern California, with Lassen Peak, believed to be the earth’s largest plug dome volcano, being the southernmost peak in the range. Although the park is a volcanic land, forests do well here and evergreens line the scenery in most directions with a few beautiful lakes dotting the forests.
Flora & Fauna
The park has plenty to offer in the flora and fauna department thanks to its unique location among northern and southern mountains bordering the Great Basin to the east and it’s elevation range from 5,000′ to 10,457′.
Thick forests are home to mixed conifer, ponderosa and white fir along with Jeffrey pines while western hemlock, red fir and lodgepole pines stand in the higher regions of the park.
Wildlife
Better put your food away in Lassen, as bears are on the loose, as well as mountain lion, bobcats, porcupine, pine marten, mountain beaver and the yellow-bellied marmot. Nice marmot…
You bird watching folk may enjoy sightings of Clark’s nutcracker, red breasted nuthatch, white-headed woodpeckers, mountain bluebird and Stellar’s Jays.
Seasons in Lassen
Lassen Volcanic is a seasonal park. The roadways are closed for much of the winter due to the massive amount of snow this park receives. This does not mean that winter pursuits are off limits.
Activities in the colder months are plentiful here with ranger-led snowshoe treks, cross-country skiing, sledding and of course, sick, thick mountain terrain that beckons backcountry skiers and snowboarders to slopes of solitude that glisten atop Lassen’s steep and deep terrain which, by the way, receives more snow than any other place in Cali.
Park Junkie Verdict
See the activities, visiting and facts pages to learn more about this unknown park. We recommend a Lassen visit for your near future. It is unlikely you’ll leave thinking that it sucked….
See ya there…
Guide to Lassen Volcanic
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National Park Guides
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