Lassen Volcanic National Park

After leaving Sheri's place on Monday (June 28th), I stopped for two nights at Manzanita Lake Campground on the north side of Lassen Volcanic National Park, several hours drive north of Stockton and about 60 miles east of Redding. It was more or less on the way to my Fourth of July destination.

I was aware that the highway through the park was only open about 10 miles on either end so you couldn't drive all the way through. Also, the Lassen Peak Trail was not yet open. (If this trail is one you might want to do this summer, check their website first. It will be closed periodically during the summer for restoration.) There are plenty of other trails, some quite easy, such as the 1.8 mile loop around Lake Manzanita and the half-mile paved trail in the Devastated Area.

Lassen Peak from the west side of Lake Manzanita on the afternoon of my arrival.

A closer view of Lassen Peak from the west side of Lake Manzanita.

On the morning of my second day at Lassen, a prescribed burn was being done by the Park Service on the northwest side of Lake Manzanita. The wind carried the smoke away from the campground area but the acrid smell of the burning brush permeated the air.

I stopped at the visitors center, which was engulfed in smoke as it was in the direct path of the wind though a safe distance from the burn area, to get a park brochure and some information (it was closed when I arrived the night before). Even though the road through the park was not open, if you wanted to do some driving, you could access all four corners of the park. There were campgrounds on the south side so I could have gone that way and spent the night on that end of the park but it was in the opposite direction I was headed and would have added several more hours onto an already long trip. Instead, I relaxed around the campground and took a few short walks.