Lassen Volcanic National Park — Park-to-Park Tour

Lassen Volcanic National Park marks the southern extent of the Cascades, a mountain range that includes Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens. The area was designated a National Monument in 1907 and earned its way onto the list of National Parks in 1916 because of a series of volcanic eruptions. We’re planning to visit Chaos Jumbler, the Devastated Area, Sulphur Works, and Manzanta Lake. We’re also planning to hike at Echo Lake, Bumpass Hill, and summit Lassen Peak. It’s a big agenda for four days and three nights. We’ll camp at Summit Lake.

Read our blog post on Lassen Volcanic

Itinerary
We are presenting our itinerary as we lived it. Not the plan, but rather what we were actually able to accomplish. Naturally there are some missed goals and some serendipitous surprises. We always rolled with the punches and made the best out of our time in the national parks. Below we have included some notes that explain how the itinerary changed from what we had in mind.

It’s important to know that these plans were made to suit the abilities and interests of two young girls aged 10 and 12. We feel confident that any family on their “Every Kid Outdoors Summer” (4th grade) could handle this itinerary. For hikes, we have listed the distance, elevation gain, and time that we tracked, which may differ from published (or actual) measurements.

Day 1

Morning

Hike: Lassen Peak Trail (5.0 miles RT, 2,000 feet, 4 hours)

Afternoon

Audio Tour:
- Sulphur Works
- Bumpass Hell
- Kings Creek Meadow
- Emerald Lake
- Lake Helen Chaos Jumbles, Devastated Area

Evening

Stargazing
Overnight at Summit Lake Campground

Day 2

Morning

Loomis Museum (Junior Ranger)
Manzanita Lake
Audio tour (Northern sites)
Hike: Devastated Area (0.5 miles RT)

Afternoon

Kayaking at Summit Lake

Evening

Overnight at Summit Lake Campground

Notes

Lassen surprised us. It felt like a miniature Yellowstone with fewer people and a fraction of the drive time between highlights. We started off with the hike to Lassen Peak, which was challenging and rewarding.

The audio tour was a great way to see the sourthern half of the Park, including Bumpass Hell for some cool geothermal activity and colorful pools.

Kayaking on Summit Lake was a really nice addition, we hadn’t planned on — thanks to our neighbors who loaned us kayaks. All in all, Lassen delivered a well-rounded two-day experience—volcanoes, lakes, mud pots, and a massive summit.