The BEST 4 days at Lassen Volcanic National Park: Our must-do hikes!

Welcome to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Located in Northern California, here you'll find a stunning volcanic landscape featuring all four types of volcanoes, plus lava fields, active hydrothermal sites, beautiful lakes, colorful dunes, and waterfalls. It perfectly combines otherworldly terrain with pristine mountain scenery. And while we have visited Lassen Volcanic once before, it was during the spring when unfortunately most of the park was closed and we were pretty limited on what we could see. So we are very excited to be back and properly explore at this time, from hiking some of its iconic peaks, wandering steamy boardwalks, and witnessing how volcanic activity has shaped this landscape. We made the drive up from Washington over the last couple days, and over the next few weeks we're going to be road tripping from Lassen Volcanic up to Crater Lake and on to explore part of Central Oregon. And to kick off our time here in Lassen Volcanic, we're hiking the Cinder Cone Trail. Volcanic activity has been occurring in the area now known as Lassen Volcanic National Park for three million years. It is one of the few places in the world where you can find all four types of volcanoes. Shield, cinder cone, composite, and plug dome. And this hike takes you to the most common type of volcano, a cinder cone. That is the trail we have to go up to get to the top of the cinder cone. It looks so steep. It kind of looks like someone just made a mound in a sandbox and then took a little bulldozer toy and just carved a little path right through it. So the terrain isn't as sandy as I expected. There are some decent sized pebbles and rocks. So we're maybe not sliding as bad as I feared, but it's still pretty hard to walk up this. Normally on a slope this steep With all this gravel you it would be terrifying to hike up something like this but since it is so soft underneath it just kind of grabs you as you're walking up so you don't feel like you're just gonna slide right off. Yeah it's pretty grippy. Yeah very grippy. We made it. Good job. So cool up here. Cinder cones are cone-shaped hills made of loose and broken pieces of lava. In this specific cinder cone, formed during eruptions around 1650, now rising over 700 feet and overlooking the fantastic lava beds and the colorful painted dunes, which are all a result of its eruption. Besides the 360 degree views you have up here, what's really sticking out to me are the textures. You have these brushy green trees that meets the rough and rocky lava bed that then meets the smooth and bubbly rolling hills of the cinder ash. It's just an interesting mix. Not only can you hike up the side of the cinder cone and along the rim, but you can also hike down into the crater of the cinder cone. And it feels like I'm skiing down this steep, rocky slope. In the bottom of a volcano. How cool. Coming down the other side of the cinder cone definitely feels a lot. more slick, and like you're going to fall, which is one of my least favorite feelings, so I think I liked the other side better. I got so much rocks and sand in my shoes and in my socks. The Cinder Cone Trail is a bit of a drive from the main part of the park, so on our way to get to the rest of the park, we're making a couple quick stops in the nearby National Forest. We just went to the Hat Creek Rim Scenic Viewpoint, which had amazing views Good views of the area and we're now off to the Subway Cave Lava Tube. It looks like it's going to get very, very dark in there, so it is headlamp time. Oh, wow. So cool, so this lava tube was formed during the Hat Creek lava flow less than 20,000 years ago It ranges between 6 and 17 feet high and it's often about 25 feet wide. So it's really wide We've been in a bunch of lava tubes before but this one is different than anyone We've ever been usually the floor is like covered with big boulders But this one is just nice and flat in here and the sides are all smooth And since it's so big and the shape of it, I can totally picture a subway car just traveling through here. It almost looks man-made just because of how smooth it is. So big in here. That was way cooler than we expected. If you are near the northern part of Lassen Volcanic National Park you have to come check this out. The lava tube isn't super long so it's a really quick stop and it's just kind of wild to think about all of the lava tubes that could be underneath the roads and all the hiking trails that were going to be going on while in this area. We missed you. We are doing this road trip with both the van and the SUV and while driving both vehicles such a long distance does have its downsides we are loving this new setup. Being able to leave the van at a campsite and take the car to hikes and into town has been such a game changer but we have just made it back to Kona in the van and we're now going to head into the main part of the park which is where we're going to spend the rest of our time here The Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway is a 30 mile segment of highway 89 that is only open seasonally and is where you can find the majority of the national park's hikes and sites. The first part of the drive which we are driving today goes more through the forest but then you emerge above the tree line reaching heights of 8,500 feet with sweeping views of the park's peaks plus different overlooks and a lake to stop by and see. Even if you can't do many hikes here driving this road is totally worth it on its own. To end our first day at Lassen Volcanic, we are at Manzanita Lake, which overlooks Lassen Peak and is one of the few spots that we visited last time, along with hiking the nearby Crags Lake Trail to see Chaos Crags and Chaos Jumbles, which is a crazy sea of rocks. We decided not to repeat that hike this time, but we highly recommend it if you're looking for another hike to do in this area. Since we have a lot of other hikes planned, we decided to take it easy tonight and just have a little sunset picnic at the lake. And on tonight's menu, we have a Thai peanut quinoa bowl, which has quinoa, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, edamame, cilantro, a peanut sauce, and we added some shredded beef. This morning, we're hiking the park's namesake mountain, Lassen Peak, which is the highest peak at Lassen Volcanic at 10,457 feet. This was one of the things we were most bummed to miss out on during our last visit, so we're excited to finally tackle it. This hike is just under five miles round trip, so relatively short considering it's the highest point in the park, but it gains almost 2,000 feet, so it's a pretty difficult hike. It's a very steady incline, no parts been extremely steep, it's just consistently a good grade. And since we started at above 8,500 feet in altitude, we are definitely breathing pretty hard. Lassen Peak is the largest plug dome volcano in the world, a type of volcano that forms when lava is too thick to flow great distances and instead piles up over a vent. It is the southern most active volcano in the Cascades with its last major eruptions happening in 1914 and 1915, Devastating nearby areas and sending ash as far away as 200 miles. Because of this eruption it gained national attention and in 1916 Lassen Volcanic National Park was established. So something interesting I did not know is that Lassen Peak and Mount St. Helens are the only volcanoes in the lower 48 to erupt in the 20th century and I guess since the 20th century. And we have now officially stood at the top of both of them. And hopefully that means that they will not be erupting again for a very, very long time. We've been making beef and bean burritos for our hikes this week. See, it may have been so good. Oh my gosh. Probably the best food we've ever made for hikes. Combo of ingredients we've been putting in. It tastes just like Taco Bell. But like that's a compliment cause we love Taco Bell. Yeah, in a good way. As we were hiking down the mountain, I could see this bright blue crystal clear lake down here just calling my name. So we're going to take a dip. Yep. I had grand plans of like swimming out to the middle. I don't think that's going to happen. Woo! I'm belly button deep. It's kind of starting to feel good. The water is so clear and blue. It's beautiful. That was our shower for the day. No, actually, correction. That's our shower for the week. For the majority of our time here at Lassen Volcanic, we're staying at the Summit Lake South Campground, which is located on Summit Lake. The sites are pretty close together, and there is hardly any privacy, so it's not totally our style. But it is centrally located to many of the hikes that we're doing, which makes it easy for us to go back and forth to check on Kona. And after spending the afternoon hanging out with Kona and recovering from the hike, we're off to Bumpas Hell, which is another one of the hikes that we have been most excited to check out here Definitely starting to get some whiffs. I have a rotten egg smell. There it is. Somebody's eating their fiber. A guy that we passed on the hike was like, you smell something weird? It wasn't me. It was a pretty good joke. Bumpus Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in Lassen Volcanic National Park, full of fumaroles, boiling springs, and mud pots. It gets its name after Kendall V. Bumpus, a prospector and early settler who fell through some of the ground's thin crust, burning his foot. He returned later on and once again broke through the ground, but this time his leg was so severely burned it had to be amputated. Thankfully, today there is a boardwalk trail that safely takes you through this area. And if Kendall V Bumpas taught us anything, it's to never go off trail in areas like these. So Bumpas Hell is home to more than 75 hydrothermal features and by far the hottest one is the big boiler. Temperatures in this steam vent have been measured as high as 322 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the hottest hydrothermal fumaroles in the world. This is so stinking cool, literally, and besides just seeing all of the steam just coming out of all of these small and just large openings in the earth, I am loving all of the colors out here. Due to all of the minerals and microorganisms, it is kind of an artist's palette, as the sign said. There's rusty orange, light blue, green, and so many shades of yellow. People often compare this to a mini Yellowstone, and they are 1000% spot on. The only difference is... There are way, way, way less people here. We are here just after Labor Day in the evening, and there are three other people out here with us right now, which is pretty amazing. We want to pause this video real quick to tell you about our California National Parks eBook. We have visited all nine California National Parks many more than once and have used our personal experiences to craft a detailed eBook to help you plan your own California National Parks adventure. Whether you're visiting just one park or squeezing in a few into a larger road trip, our eBook breaks down each park with the top things to do, when to visit, where to stay, pre-made itineraries, and other helpful information to know before you go. Plus, we have three road trip itineraries that combine the most ideal parks to visit in one trip and by season. And the best part is that it's in an easy to download and print format, so you can take it with you on the go and even reference it when you don't have cell service. Plus, if you're like us and you love Google Maps, we include a custom Google Map, which has pins for all the stops we include in the ebook, like our favorite hikes, restaurants, and roadside stops, plus lodging options. If you'd like to get the e-book, click the link in the description and pin the comment or scan the QR code on the screen. And if you aren't planning to visit the California National Parks quite yet, we also have e-books for some other destinations we have visited, like the Utah National Parks, Atlantic Canada, the Alaska Highway, and Vietnam. Plus, we have tons of free resources on our website from destinations we have visited all over the world, so make sure to go check those out as well. Today our plan is to go on a few shorter and slightly easier hikes in the park and we're starting with Paradise Meadows. This hike may not have the sweeping views of the area like some of the other hikes we have done, but it is so peaceful and relaxing. You start out in this lush forest, you go along the river, you see multiple waterfalls, and then you end at this magical wide open meadow with this crystal clear creek winding through. This was the perfect hike to do on just a gloomy rainy morning. For our next hike, we're on the Terrace, Shadow, and Cliff Lakes Trail, which will take us to three different lakes. You can get to these lakes from the Paradise Meadows Trail, but we decided to just drive to the main trailhead to make it a bit shorter. All of the lakes on this hike were so beautiful. They all had this vibrant, clear water and these rocky, mountainous backdrops. But on our hike back to the car, we've decided to spend a bit more time at Shadow Lake, which is the largest of the lakes. It has a view of Lassen Peak and just a ton of shoreline to hang out on. So we figured it would be the perfect spot to make some lunch. And today we have a very special lunch planned. We are trying the green chicken enchiladas, which is a brand new backpacking meal from our favorite backpacking meal brand, Bowl & Kettle, and I am so excited. It has smoked chicken thigh, chili verde, crispy corn tortilla, Monterey Jack cheese, and pinto beans. As I'm mixing this together, it's visually looking so good, and I'm getting my first whiffs of it, and oh my god, it smells incredible. Huge chunks of chicken. Oh, I know, look at like, look at this chunk of chicken. Gosh, it's just like restaurant quality, packed with flavor. You did it again, Bowling Kettle, you did it again. The chicken is so good too. It rehydrated really well. It's like really tender. So when we said today's hikes were slightly easier, we really want to emphasize the slightly. They all have some pretty decent uphill stretches and on this hike, the entire hike back is uphill. So before we do our last final big climb, we are going to cool off in this lake. Oh, but the wind keeps coming and I don't know if we're hot enough to do this. Okay, we're good. My feet hurt. For our final hike of the day, we're heading to Kings Creek Falls, and along the way you get a good glimpse of the destruction from the Dixie Fire. This fire happened in 2021 and is one of the largest wildfires in California history, burning 73,240 acres in just the park alone. And even over five years later, you can still see how it impacted the park with lots of burnt trees, which is an interesting contrast against the lush creek. What I'm loving about this national park is just how much variety it has. It could just have the volcanoes and the hydrothermal features and be impressive on its own and worthy of the national park title but then throw in all the lakes and the waterfalls and just makes it a more well-rounded experience and all of the cold water just kind of breaks up the otherwise dry and desolate environment. To end our time here in Lassen Volcanic, we're hiking up Brokhoff Mountain and while it isn't as high as Lassen Peak and is a longer trail, we've heard that many people like this trail better. With this hike we're checking off one more volcano type, a composite volcano, also called stratovolcanoes. These volcanoes are built from layers of hardened lava, volcanic ash, and debris. Brokaw Mountain is the remnant of the park's only composite volcano, Mount Tahama, which stood at around 11,500 feet tall, spread 12 miles in diameter, and last erupted around 387,000 years ago. It's kind of impossible to choose which hike we like better out of this one and Lassen Peak because they are both incredible and they offer a different experience. The trail up to Lassen Peak is super exposed which means you have amazing views the entire time but if you go kind of late in the day when the sun is fully out you're gonna have a bit of a brutal time whereas this trail is more forested and has a lot more shade which is one of the main reasons that people like this one better but they both just have Jaw-dropping views from the top. From the top of Lassen Peak, you can see the devastation area, which is so neat to see. And just getting to say that you stood on top of the park's namesake volcano, the southernmost active volcano in the Cascades, is just a cool experience in itself. But the big selling point of this one, and why I might like this view just a tiny tiny tiny bit more, is because you have a head-on view of Lassen Peak. And getting to actually see Lassen Peak from this high up, It's just really, really amazing. We are so happy we made it back to Lassen Volcanic and got to do all the hikes that we missed out on last time. This is easily one of the most underrated national parks, and we'd argue this whole area of California is super underrated. There are so many other cool hikes and sites nearby, which you can check out in a video we filmed on our previous visit. But now we're headed north to Crater Lake National Park, another park we've been to before but can't wait to see again.