Fire and ice are two words that best describe the shaping of Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. Rebirth and resilience are two more words which should also be applied to this park.

Like other units of the National Park System located near the northern and eastern boundaries of the Pacific Ocean, Lassen sits within the Circum-Pacific Belt (aka Pacific Ring of Fire), a zone surrounding the Pacific Ocean where about 90 percent of the world's earthquakes and most of the world’s volcanism occur. As such, volcanoes dot the Lassen landscape: shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome, many of which you can trek up for all-encompassing views. A hike to steamy Bumpass Hell, or a drive along the park highway through bubbling Sulphur Works, provides evidence of this dynamic geology still churning away just beneath the park’s surface.

According to the National Park Service:

Congress made this area a national park in 1916 because of the eruption and active volcanic landscape. Lassen Volcanic National Park is a valuable natural laboratory of volcanic events and associated hydrothermal features.

There’s ice, too – well, evidence of ice now long-melted. Around the same time as Lassen Peak’s formation some 27,000 years ago, a thick blanket of glacial ice buried the landscape, sculpting mountain cirques and U-shaped valleys, scratching striations into the rock indicating direction of ice movement, and depositing moraines, outwash, and erratics. All of these are reminders of that distant cold past when “rivers of ice” flowed over what is now incorporated within park boundaries.

There are quiet spots, too, in this national park, amidst the steaming activity of Bumpass Hell and Sulphur Works. Look for glassy lakes upon which glide ducks and other waterfowl, broad meadows over which lazy streams meander, and shady trees tendering a measure of solitude occasionally punctuated by birdsong.

In this national park, you can hike up to the very summit of the volcano for which the park is named. You can wander the boardwalks over boiling mudpots and bubbling hot springs of acidic water. You can slog up a trail of loose pumice and cinders with a 25^o – 32^o angle of repose to a cinder cone summit with an expansive view of Lassen Peak, Fantastic Lava Beds, and the brightly-colored Painted Dunes. You can leisurely paddle the circumference of Manzanita Lake beneath towering Lassen Peak, perhaps passing a great blue heron stalking a watery meal near the lakeshore. You can even hike a portion of the historic Nobles Emigrant Trail, 24 miles (38.6 km) of which pass through the northern portion of the park.

Feel like testing your angling skills? While trout have not been stocked in Lassen's lakes since the 1980s, there is still a healthy population of the fish providing plenty of opportunities to hook one or more of brook, rainbow, or brown trout. Manzanita Lake is the most popular spot for fishing, but it's catch-and-release only at this lake.

Don't let the onset of winter keep you from exploring Lassen. While snow usually begins in November, covering popular trails and blanketing the park with up to 30 feet (9 m) of the cold, fluffy white stuff, there's plenty of opportunities for a bracing snowshoe hike or a cross-country trek across a landscape markedly changed with the season. The park road is closed to vehicles in winter, but there are still accessible areas you can reach before strapping on those snowshoes or skis.

Lassen is nothing if not resilient in the face of adversity. Like a phoenix, this national park has repeatedly risen from the ashes of wildfires since 1911. It is because of the 2021 Dixie Fire - the largest to date in park history which engulfed 73,240 acres (29,639 hectares) of park landscape - that there are still some places you cannot access. Drive the scenic 30-mile (48.28 km) Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway, and on one side, you’ll view the charred evidence of this conflagration extending far into the valley beyond, while trees thick with greenery line the other side, thanks, in part, to the firebreak offered by the highway. Rebirth and renewal have begun in these spots, but it will take time to fully recover. And Lassen will always be subject to the whims of nature and humans. In 2024 the Park Fire, a result of an alleged act of arson, stopped just short of entering this national park.

Considering a visit to Lassen? The pages below should help you with those plans, from where to stay, to what to do, to what to consider before starting your trip. You will also learn a interesting trivia about the park as well, including but not limited to history, geology, and wildlife.

Traveler's Choice For: hiking, geology, photography