The park’s creation was due to a local businessman, Benjamin Loomis who photographed the explosion of Lassen Peak in 1915, and the park founded in 1916. The park houses all 4 types of volcanos. Mount Harkness is Shield, Cinder Cone is a Cinder Cone, Lassen Peak is a Plug Dome and Brokeoff Mountain is a Composite volcano. Harkness started building its size about 600,000 years ago and has grown due to fluid lava flowing. Cinder Cone is loose volcanic rock, cinders and ash that accumulates around a single vent. Cinder Cone was formed in 1650 so it is fairly young. Lassen Peak is a plug dome and forms when lava is too thick to flow far. The plus in Lassen was shattered by a steam blast causing an avalanche of melted snow and rock. The last Brokeoff Mountain is a composite mode up of volcanic rock, lava, cinders, and ash that erupted from a central or group of vents. Brokeoff is the only composite volcano in the park and was once a part of the much larger Brokeoff Volcano. These volcanos are still active and it is not known when they will erupt but they will erupt again. The parks road from the Northwest to the Southwest is 29 miles and has plenty of things to see and hikes to go on when in the park. Starting at the Northwest you will see the fire damage caused by the Dixie fire in 2021, which prevented me from coming to the park. The damage was over 69% of the park area or 73,240 acres of land. The Dixie fire burned from July 13, to October 26 and it reached over 963,309 acres of land in California, it was the largest single fire on record. The fire damage is something that can’t be described but when you see it, it is a sight to behold. Additionally, on the road you will come to the summit of the road at 8,512 feet high and the temperature change was something that was noticeable during the drive on the road. The park still has plenty of snow and ice throughout the park at the higher elevations so be careful when you come before mid-July. The average high in June is 74 degrees and the low is 34 degrees Fahrenheit. July and August get into the mid 80’s for a high but still down to 40 at night. You can see why the snow does not melt.
Ridge Lakes Trail – the trail head is just inside the Southwest entrance to the park. There is plenty of parking and the parking is also for the Sulfur area????. The trail is a two mile loop with over 1,000 feet of elevation gain. I was up for a challenge so off I went. The trail is up as to get over the 1,000 feet you have to constantly walk up and of course what goes up must come down. I will say the trail was well marked and also was warn in most areas. The issue I had was that near the top the trail markers and footsteps ended so I could not see any way to go. There was a part that looked like someone slid down but that did not have footprints. A couple on the way up said that the last 1/4 mile was at a 60 degree incline, so maybe that was the trail. I turned back and went down to the parking area defeated but living to hike another day. The trail goes along a small creek that was flowing with water from melting snow and at the beginning/end of the hike you can see some of the hot springs steaming and smell the sulfur. I am not sure I would have made it to the top even without the snow but for now I will use snow as the excuse why I did not make the top of the hike.
Sulfur Works – The area known as Sulfur Works is an area of the park just inside the Southwest entrance and has a parking area. The parking area is the same for the Ridge Lakes Trail and there is ample parking even a vault toilet you can access. After parking take an easy stroll up the road to a sidewalk and a fences area for viewing of the sulfur hot springs of Lassen Volcanic. The smell of sulfur is not as bad as in Yellowstone but it is there for your enjoyment. The viewing area is on both sides of the street but the side with the parking has some bubbling murky water springs that are cool. I also got to see a mamma deer and her very young baby while heading up to the viewing area of the springs. I spotted mamma and she walked up the hill towards me with the little one in tow. A special site for me to enjoy.
Lake Helen – The lake is still frozen over but a couple of spots it is just starting to thaw enough to see the blue water that is within the lake. I think that during the non-snow times this has a stopping off area with vault toilet but the parking area was not plowed allowing cars to really park nor to gain access to the vault toilets.
Emerald Lake – The lake is starting to thaw but not much of it is thawed. I was able to get a photo of the lake after crossing the main road in the park. Emerald Lake has a pull off but not really a parking area.
Chaos Crags and Crags Lake Trail – The trail head is just off the main road towards the Manzanita Lake Campground on the left side heading to the campground. Since I was camping I hiked to the trail head from my campsite adding another 2 miles round trip to my hike. The trail hike is rated at Moderate and has an overall distance of 4 miles with elevation gain of 850 feet. It sure felt more than 850 feet today but the hike was enjoyable. The trail is sandy at first then goes to hard dirt followed by dirt and rocks. At the start you are going along a creek and it is beautiful sounding taking your mind off the hike. You will go through the forest and some of the forest was burned by fire but not the Dixie fire I am guessing. At the top the lake was dry but you could see where the glaciers/snow has created smooth hillside down to the lake. Another thing I liked about the trail was there were few people out on the trail today so it was peaceful and quite at the top.
Manzanita Creek Trail – Access to the trail head is obtained by going to Loop D of the campground and going into the exit for a few yards. The trail head is on the left side of the road if you are walking into the exit as I did on my journey. The trail is rated as Moderate with 7 miles of hiking, in newspaper, but 6.6 miles on the trail head marker. The elevation gain/loss is 1,110 feet and the trail is almost all up going and all down when coming back. The trail is not steep but is just a long steady up to the end of the trail at a meadow. The meadow at the top has views of a couple of nice mountains with snow on them. Along the hike you will walk near the Manzanita Creek and can hear it but also you cross the creek. There was also a little creek in one of the meadows along the hike which the crossing was stepping on a stone and you were over. When I hiked in early June, there was a few snow piles on the side of the trail but also were on the trail to walk over. If you don’t have waterproof shoes bring extra socks as your feet will get wet due to the snow. Most of the trail was dirt with rocks but the beginning was sandy. The trail goes through many little meadows and is quiet so you can hear the wind and birds or if near the water the water. Is it long, maybe, it it hard, maybe, but the hike will be very enjoyable. I started about 10:00 AM from my campsite and on the way to the top I saw six people coming down. The way down I had much more people but would put the number at 12, and it was a Saturday! The hike was a gem and a must if you come to Lassen.
Manzanita Lake Trail – There are many ways to access this trail around Manzanita Lake. I was in the campground so I choose the trail head between A18 and A20 campsites. The trail lead you down to the lake where you had to choose right or left. I went right and walked into many people enjoying the day on the lake in kayaks, paddle boards, or just handing out and enjoying the lake. There is parking right by these people so maybe there were in for the day or are staying at the cabins. I kept walking and it got quiet and the trail was had to follow. I stayed by the creek that feed the lake but should have taken a sandy path that lead up and away from the creek. The path did go back down to the creek and had a walk bridge over the lake by the Loomis Museum, a trail head is there as well. I followed the path a bit further and came upon a closed area by the lake for water fowl and their nesting. I saw a bunch of Canada geese who were nesting in the area. As I continued on the journey around the lake, I found that there is a parking area on the park’s main road that has trail access. You also come to the entrance booth of the park and a park employee’s residence, so I went back to the trail and continued onward. The trail is well marked except for the one part mentioned earlier. During the hike I was able to observe many different water fowl and even saw some young ducklings learning how to dive into the water. The trail itself is 1.5 miles around the lake and it has no real elevation gain/loss. This trail is something for everyone who can walk.
Manzanita Lake Campground – The campground has 179 sites and these are in 4 loops along with 4 group sites. There are cabins within the campground and these are on their own loop. The campground is at 5,900 feet above the sea so make sure you drink plenty of water during your stay. The campground has flush and vault toilets to us and a dish washing station at the restrooms. The campsites are not that close together so some privacy is obtained. The vault toilets are for when the campground becomes “dry” meaning the water is turned off and the water and sewage systems are winterized. You may still camp at the campground but you will need to bring all of your own water and utilize the vault toilets. The cost is reduced due to the lack of amenities at the campground. Some amenities include a laundry room and shower facilities! Showers are $5.00 per person, friends will not be provided by the camp store.
