Lassen Volcanic National Park is about one hour East of I-5 on Ca. State Hwy 36 or 44. Park amenities include: Camping, Fishing, Picnic Areas, Restrooms, Cross Country Skiing, Interpretive Trails, Parking, and Two Visitor Centers - one at each entrance to the park.

Lassen Peak is one of many volcanoes-active, dormant, or extinct-that extend around the Pacific Ocean in a great Ring of Fire. This zone of volcanoes and earthquakes marks the edges of plates that compose the Earth's crust. Volcanic and seismic disturbances occur as these great slabs override or grind past each other. In May of 1914 Lassen Peak erupted, beginning a seven-year cycle of sporadic volcanic outbursts. The climax of this extended episode took place in 1915, when the peak blew an enormous mushroom cloud some 11 kilometers (7 miles) skyward into the stratosphere. The reawakening of this volcano, which began as a vent on a larger extinct volcano known as Tehama, profoundly altered the surrounding landscape. The area was made a national park in 1916 because of its significance as an active volcanic landscape, with other portions of park having seen eruptions in 1851. 

The park is a compact laboratory of volcanic phenomena with most associated thermal features except true geysers. It is part of a vast geographic unit - a great lava plateau with isolated volcanic peaks that also encompass Lava Beds National Monument in California, and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Before the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens in Washington, Lassen Peak was the most recent volcanic outburst in the contiguous 48 states. The peak is the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range, which extends from Lassen into Canada. 

The western part of the park features great lava pinnacles, huge mountains created by lava flows, jagged craters, and steaming sulphur vents. It is cut by spectacular glaciated canyons and is dotted and threaded by lakes and rushing clear streams. Snowbanks persist year round and beautiful meadows are spread with wildflowers in the spring. The eastern part of the park is a vast lava plateau more than 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) above sea level. Here are found small cinder cones - Fairfield Peak, Hat Mountain, and Crater Butte. Forested with pine and fir, this area is studded with small lakes, but it boasts few streams. Warner Valley, marking the southern edge of the Lassen plateau, features hot spring areas - Boiling Springs Lake, and Devils Kitchen. This forested, steep valley also has gorgeous large meadows. Lassen geothermal areas - Sulphur Works, Bumpass Hell (largest), Little Hot Springs Valley, Boiling Springs Lake, Devils Kitchen and Terminal Geyser - offer fumaroles, boiling mud pots, and waters above 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Some of these thermal features are getting hotter. Scientists think that Lassen Park and Mount Shasta are the most likely candidates in the Cascades to join Mount Saint Helens as active volcanoes. 

How to Get There: Interstate 5 to Red Bluff or Redding. From Red Bluff, CA. take Hwy 36 East to Hwy 89 then north to the southern park entrance. From Redding, Hwy 44 to the north park entrance. Tips: The main road through the park is closed due to snow from about mid-October to mid-May each year. 

Rules & Regulations: Keep pets on a leash at all times; they are not permitted on trails, in buildings, at evening talks, or in the backcountry. Do not leave fires unattended. Pack out all trash. Stay on trails; don't take shortcuts. Bicycles and motor vehicles are prohibited on trails. Use or display of weapons is prohibited. Leave all natural features as you find them.