A Trip Through Lassen Volcanic National Park

Above, a view of Devastated Area in 2017. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was 51 years ago that I first visited Lassen Volcanic National Park with my parents.

Back then, the park's Devastated Area looked, well, devastated. Today, the area looks a lot less devastated as parts are now more overgrown with pine trees. Two years ago, I visited Lassen again and found this to be the case.

Above, with The Beast in the foreground, a view of Lassen Peak from Devastated Area. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This was the what Jean Barton, writer of an article on Lassen, noticed in the Red Bluff Daily News.

The article begins with:

It has been more than 20 years since I have been on the north side of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and was amazed to see that the Devastated Area and Hot Rock area were overgrown with trees. Not as I had remembered when there were rocks and boulders scattered over the land. 

It was a Mt. Lassen Motor Transit tour of the park, just before the snow butterflies emerged as seen on the local television news. 

It was a Mt. Lassen Motor Transit tour of the park, just before the snow butterflies emerged as seen on the local television news. 

First stop was Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center where we learned about the four types of volcanoes from a park employee, and viewing the movie about the park. 

Mt. Harkness is a shield volcano with a broad, rounded volcano built up by many outpourings of fluid lava. 

Cinder Cone is made up of loose volcanic rock, cinders and ash that accumulate around a single vent. 

Lassen Peak is a plug dome volcano with thick lava that doesn’t flow very far. A steam blast shattered Lassen’s plug, creating an avalanche of melted snow and rock down the east side.

Above, at camp at Manzanita Lake Campground. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Lassen Volcanic National Park is an interesting place to visit. It is not crowded like other California national parks. I was able to get a campsite at the Manzanita Lake Campground at the north end of the park without any reservations.

To read more, go here.