Lassen Volcanic National Park

Introduction

Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

© Utrecht

Lassen Volcanic National Park is a United States National Park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southern-most volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Volcanic National Park started as two separate national monuments designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907: Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument.

Geography

The park is located near the northern end of the Sacramento Valley. 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 glaciated canyons and is dotted and threaded by lakes and rushing clear streams. The eastern part of the park is a vast lava plateau more than one mile (1.6 km) above sea level. Here, small cinder cones are found. (Fairfield Peak, Hat Mountain, and Crater Butte). Forested with pine and fir, this area is studded with small lakes, but it boasts few streams. Lassen Peak is made of dacite, and is one of the world's largest plug dome volcanoes. It is also the southernmost non-extinct volcano of the Cascade Range. Sulphur Works is a geothermal area in between Lassen Peak and Brokeoff Mountain that is thought to mark an area near the center of Tehama's now-gone cone. Other geothermal areas in the caldera are Little Hot Springs Valley, Diamond Point (an old lava conduit), and Bumpass Hell.

Opening Hours

Lassen Volcanic National Park is open year-round, 24 hours per day. Road access is limited in the winter months. Please check road conditions for road status if visiting October through June. Many facilities are open for the summer season only; however the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center at the southwest entrance is open year-round. Read below for more information about facility operating days and hours.

Costs

• $10 Vehicle Pass -Valid for 7 days at Lassen Volcanic National Park.
• $5 Individual Entry Pass - Per person entrance fee for a visitor traveling on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, or for individuals traveling together in a vehicle as a non-commercial, organized group. Valid for 7 days at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Annual passes for the park and for all American national parks are available as well.

Getting There

By Car

The park is accessible via State Routes SR 89 and SR 44. SR 89 passes north-south through the park, beginning at SR 36 to the south and ending at SR 44 to the north. SR 89 passes immediately adjacent the base of Lassen Peak.

External Links

• Official National Park Website