Lassen Volcanic National Park, California (September, 2024).

Driving into Lassen Volcanic National Park for the first time brought two immediate thoughts to mind.  First, maybe we shouldn’t have gotten tired of looking at redwood trees.  At least the redwoods were alive and provided shade.  Most of the trees in the southern and eastern sections of Lassen were burned in a massive fire several years ago. ^FN1

Second, the roads in Crater Lake really are not that winding and twisting.  Lassen Volcanic set a new standard for roads that Stephanie did not want to drive.  At least not faster than about 15 miles per hour, which is significantly slower than almost everyone else in the park.

We spent about a day and a half in the park, cutting short some of our hiking and sightseeing because so much of the park was burned.   It didn’t help that our Airbnb in Chester (the nearest civilization of note) was about an hour away.

Our first day in the park started at Bumpass Hell, one of the more popular hikes in the park leading to a hydrothermal area.  The hike itself is 3.0 miles roundtrip on a largely graded and packed gravel trail.  Much of the trail is on the west side of a ridge, so in the morning we were in the shade.

Once you drop into the valley with the hydrothermal activity, however, the trail is much narrower and mostly dirt until you arrive at the short boardwalk and interpretive signs.

We quickly noticed that hiking at 8,000 feet of elevation is a bit tough for us.  We are not accustomed to the thin air.  It was definitely slow going, much slower than expected. 

After finishing the Bumpass Hell hike we drove over to Lake Helen to relax and enjoy our usual picnic lunch lakeside.

For the afternoon we had several options, ultimately deciding on hiking to Paradise Meadow.  This is a 3.0 mile out and back trail.  The first half of the trial is a rather gentle uphill in both sun and shade, while the second half is a noticeably steep uphill mostly in shade.

Along the way are a few waterfalls that make great stopping points to catch your breath.  We were still struggling with the thin air but made it to the meadow in good time.  I bet it’s beautiful when the wildflowers are blooming.

On the way out of the park for the day we made a quick stop at Upper Kings Creek Meadow.  It looks a lot like Paradise Meadow except for the fact that you can see it from your car without making a three mile hike.

For our second day in the park we chose to hike to Terrace Lake and Shadow Lake, a 2.0 mi roundtrip trek.  There are a few flat sections on this trail, but not many.  It’s mostly a hike down to the lakes and then back up to the trailhead.  Stephanie was not happy with the elevation changes, but the beauty of the lakes made it worthwhile. 

You can extend the hike by continuing to Cliff Lake, or even Summit Lake, but we opted to stop and turn around at Shadow Lake.  (It was Saturday.  There were football games on later that afternoon.  And the games start early in the Pacific Time Zone.)

This hike rivals the Lamoille Lake Trail for best in class among the hikes we took on this trip.

Thankfully we saw plenty of people on this trail, so Stephanie’s irrational fear of bears was largely negated.  But, it gave us an idea to look up what is more likely to kill you than a bear.  Of course you can’t believe everything on the internet, but here is what we found:

The odds of being injured by a bear is about 1 in 2,100,000;

Bears kill around one person per year;

Venomous snakes and lizards kill around six people per year;

Spiders kill around seven people per year;

Cows kill about twenty people per year;

Dogs kill about twenty-eight people per year; and,

Bees, wasps, and hornets kill about fifty-eight people per year. ^FN2

Lawnmowers, ice stakes, skateboards, and falling from trees kill even more frequently.  As, apparently, does accidents involving beds.  I never hear Stephanie complain about those.

Looks like selfies should be on the list, too. ^FN3

Total hiking in Lassen Volcanic National Park, 8.0 miles:

Bumpass Hell Trail, 3.0 miles

Paradise Meadow Trail, 3.0 mile

Terrace and Shadow Lakes Trail, 2.0 miles

Garrett and Stephanie

FN1.  The Dixie fire in 2021 burned about 70% of Lassen Volcanic National Park, particularly the eastern and southern areas.  Literally weeks before we arrived in 2024, the Park fire was stopped just short of Lassen Volcanic’s western edge.

FN2.  See Bear Tracks.

FN3. See Wikipedia.

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