Lassen Volcanic National Park
California
We arrived at Lassen Volcanic National Park via the Lassen Scenic Byway, a drive so beautiful it felt like an attraction on its own. If you plan to stay, make a camping reservation in advance—the lakeside sites fill fast. It’s an International Dark Skies certified park.
Entering from the south, we went straight to the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center—closed, of course—but found a small park store nearby where we grabbed a map and my all-important National Parks Passport stamp. Our GuideAlong narrator began explaining the park’s violent geologic past as we set out on the 30-mile scenic drive through a land sculpted by ancient eruptions.
I already knew what I wanted: Bumpass Hell—a surreal landscape of steaming vents, hissing fumaroles, and boiling mud pots. The name alone dared you to see it. There were several scenic stops before the trailhead—glacial lakes shining in volcanic bowls, the scent of pine and sulfur in the air. We finally parked at Brokeoff Volcano Scenic Vista, where I jumped out, full of energy and optimism—forgetting my water bottle and bear whistle, naturally.
“It’s short,” I told myself. Famous last words.
The Bumpass Hell Trail wound across the mountain’s face, about three miles round-trip, through sun-baked pumice fields and shaded forest before dropping to a maze of boardwalks over steaming earth. It was otherworldly—like hiking across the surface of another planet. Somewhere among the twisting paths, I got turned around, then mildly panicked, then laughed at myself and took a few overlook photos before retracing my steps to meet Alan and Kodi back at the van.
Top highlights in Lassen: Bumpass Hell, Manzanita Lake, Sulphur Works, Kings Creek Falls, Lake Helen, Crystal Lake, and Cinder Cone—each showing off a different side of the park’s volcanic story.
I wanted to camp overnight to experience the famous dark-sky views, but with no Wi-Fi to book a site and daylight fading fast, we decided to move on. Two hours southeast brought us to the small town of Quincy, where we found dinner, a soft bed, and a plan for the next leg of the journey—Lake Tahoe.
