Lassen Volcanic National Park Things to Do

Review these safety tips and resources before you start your winter adventure!

Learn more about the Lassen region including Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lassen National Forest.

Experience the majesty of Lassen Peak from the highest point on the park road at 8,512 feet. The Lassen Peak Trail begins here.

This one of three pullouts that offer a view into Little Hot Springs Valley hydrothermal area.

This historic Loomis Museum offers a glimpse into park history and current visitor information in the Manzanita Lake Area of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Manzanita Lake Area is a popular destination located at the north end of Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway.

Manzanita Lake day use area includes a boat launch, trailhead, and picnic area, and is a popular destination for first-time visitors, families, and campers.

Show a valid pass, purchase park passes and entry fees, grab a map, and start your adventure at Lassen's Manzanita Lake entrance station. Lassen Volcanic National Park charges an entrance fee year-round.

Explore Lassen on skis or snowshoes using these winter routes on the Manzanita Lake (northwest) side of the park.

High atop Mt. Harkness, this rustic fire lookout is still accessible to hikers.

Reflection Lake wasn't always named such. In the late 1800s, the lake was lower in level and more indicative of a pond and was aptly named, Mud Lake. To attract more people to the area, a channel was dug to divert water from Manzanita Creek into Mud Lake. Trout were planted in the lake with an increased water level. For a few years, people paid the landowner to fish in the lake. Eventually, trout planting ceased. In 1926, park benefactor Benjamin Franklin Loomis purchased 40 acres, which included the lake. Reflection Lake was one location that Loomis captured photographs of the 1914-1945 Lassen Peak eruptions. Loomis and his wife Estella donated their 40 acres, the Loomis Museum, and the adjacent seismograph building to the park in 1929. A healthy population of native tui chub fish thrive in the warmer water. Fish stocking ended completely in the park in the early 1990s to preserve natural riparian ecosystems. As a result, the lake attracts water birds such as Canada geese, great blue heron, snowy egret, and kingfisher. Reflection Lake Route A half-mile route (not a defined trail) circles the lake and is a shorter alternative to the 1.8-mile Manzanita Lake Loop. The western shore offers unobstructed views of Chaos Crags and Lassen Peak, which are often reflected in the still lake. The route overlaps with the half-mile Lily Pond Interpretive Trail on the eastern shore of Reflection Lake.

Explore Lassen on skis or snowshoes using these winter routes.

Start or end your visit to Lassen Volcanic National park with a quick photo at the Southwest Entrance sign.

Show a valid pass, purchase park passes and entry fees, grab a map, and start your adventure at Lassen's southwest entrance station. Lassen Volcanic National Park charges an entrance fee year-round.

Sulphur Works is the most accessible hydrothermal area in the park. A parking area provides access to a short, paved walk to bubbling mudpots and steaming ground.

Step foot on a spur of the California National Historic Trail. The wagon tracks have since faded but the story is forever etched on the landscape. This route welcomed a portion of the more than 250,000 emigrants who traveled to the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s in the greatest mass migration in American history.

This narrow valley features a number of hydrothermal areas and the historic Drakesbad Guest Ranch. Enjoy easy to moderate hikes to remote hydrothermal areas including Devils Kitchen, Boiling Springs Lake, and Terminal Geyser.

Are you avalanche aware? While these tips and resources don't take the place of a formal avalanche safety training, they are a great reminder to review before hitting the snow!

Spot the rim of the eroded Brokeoff Volcano in the volcanic remnants that surround this scenic vista. Or, investigate the lone boulder perched high above Hot Springs Valley that tells the story of the massive volcano's slow disappearance.

Enjoy hiking, swimming, fishing, and boating in the remote Butte Lake Area dominated by the jagged Fantastic Lava Beds and barren Cinder Cone volcano.

Imagine a rock slide racing nearly 100 miles an hour down Chaos Crags at this pullout on the north side of the highway about a mile from the Loomis Museum.

Enjoy a hike to the base or summit of this striking cinder cone volcano.

Discover the "devastating" story behind the 1915-1916 Lassen Peak eruption.

Small pullout below Diamond Peak offers a view of Lassen Peak.

Drakesbad Guest Ranch is a secluded lodge at the southeast end of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

This roadside alpine lake gets its name from vegetation in its shallow waters.

This picturesque meadow is one of the most colorful spots in the park for autumn foliage. In the heat of summer, water from a year-round spring keeps the area a lush green. This tranquil spot was shaped by Lassen Peak eruptions that dammed Hat Creek creating Hat Lake. Following its formation, American beavers maintained the lake for decades When the beavers departed for an unknown reason, the spring water flows through the meadow. As previously flooded land slowly dries, plant succession takes place. Quaking aspen and willow are prolific in the wet soil surrounding the lake. Multiple flower species and meadow grasses now grow in the nutrient-rich soil of the former lake bed. There is no trail through the meadow. Please enjoy it from its edges. Walking on the meadow compacts soil, which can kill roots or preventing new plants from growing.

Snap a photo with this several-ton rock that photographer B.F. Loomis reported was too hot to touch after it was ejected from the crater of Lassen Peak in 1915.

This remote, high-elevation landscape contains the largest lake in the park. The day use area offers hiking, backpacking, swimming, and non-motorized boating.

Kings Creek wends its way through this photogenic mountain meadow that reflects the colors of the season.

Nestled at the base of Lassen Peak, this sapphire lake offers some of the most dramatic scenic views in the park.

Hike the three-mile, round-trip trail to the largest hydrothermal area in the park.

The steep slopes behind the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center are a popular destination for sledders. Lassen's deep snowfall also provides ample opportunity for snowplay. Snowman building contest, anyone?

Enjoy Lassen’s winter wonderland by snowshoe! Meander along the park highway route (snow-covered Hwy 89), circuit an icy lake, visit boiling hydrothermal features, or, for intrepid explorers, summit a snowy peak.

Enjoy Lassen’s winter wonderland by ski or snowboard! Cross-country ski along one of the park’s numerous winter routes or, for experienced explorers, backcountry ski and snowboard one of Lassen’s mountain slopes.

Sled a wintery slope, build a snowman, or otherwise enjoy Lassen's winter wonderland at the Manzanita Lake area. Got snow?

The 30-mile park highway connects the northwest (Manzanita Lake) and southwest entrances of the park. This scenic route passes through dense forest, winds around alpine lakes and meadow, crests at 8,512 feet near Lassen Peak Trailhead, and descends steep volcanic slopes into the southwest area. Designated turnouts and parking areas provide opportunities to enjoy the highway highlights.

Manzanita Lake is one of the most popular fishing spots in the park and it is easily accessible. This lake holds a fair number of rainbow and brown trout and is rated as a blue-ribbon fly fishery by the state of California Department of Fish and Game.

This steamy spot is accessible via a short walk along Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway. Sulphur Works is the easiest to access of the park's seven hydrothermal areas.

The Kings Creek Falls trail leads to a large roaring waterfall draped in ferns and other green plants which thrive off the mist generated by the falls.

Fly fishing, Fishing Butte Lake

Hiking Lassen Peak

A short and relatively flat walk offers views of Lassen Peak and Chaos Crags volcanoes, often seen reflecting in the water. The trailhead is across the road from the Loomis Museum.

Manzanita Lake Trail is an easy, mostly flat walk suitable for families with young children. It is not stroller-friendly. The walk offers scenic views of Lassen Peak and Chaos Crags volcanoes and birding and wildlife watching opportunities. The trail is popular for sunset viewing.

A half-mile, self-led, interpretive loop explores the rich diversity of plant and animal life in the Manzanita Lake Area.

Trailside signs on this wheelchair-accessible, 0.2-mile loop provide an introduction to the 1915-1916 Lassen Peak eruption and the resulting Devastated Area.

Enjoy the sights and sounds of Sulphur Works hydrothermal area via a two-mile, round-trip over-snow route in the Southwest Area.