Summer in Parks: Lake Tahoe & Lassen Volcanic National Park

There is no sweeter month than June. Everything is green, my springtime allergies are winding down, and the sweetest part of all: I hopped on a flight to head west for 9 days. For those new here, a part of my job as a social media manager for artists is visiting National Parks and shooting content along with bringing back photographic reference for future poster illustrations! The three Parks I made my way to this year was… Lassen Volcanic, Redwood, and Crater Lake! You may have not heard of any of those, or maybe you know them all. These underrated spots was exactly what I was craving. To be disconnected and experience these places in their prime was unforgettable. What made the entire trip even better was having one of my best friends Ashley (graphic designer & stationery extraordinnaire) come along! There is SO much to share, so we’ll divide this up in two parts and will begin with Lake Tahoe & Lassen Volcanic.

Lake Tahoe

The tiredness of an earrrly flight to Reno paid off with the beauty that is Lake Tahoe. Fun fact about Reno: it’s actually the closest airport to Lassen Volcanic. So I would be a fool to not experience Tahoe before heading onto the meat of the trip. The drive to our fabulous stay at the Coachman Hotel gave us peeks of the pristine, iconic lake that is the clearest it’s been in over 40 years! After settling in, we snagged pizza from a local joint and settled in to get a good night’s sleep for the exciting day ahead which was: renting a clear kayak on the lake! This came highly recommended from best friends who said if we did anything in Tahoe, this was it. Clearly Tahoe was so lovely and made our entire experience so worth it. And they were right… the water was indeed super clear. Not a cloud in the sky, Ashley and I were beaming the entire time. After reluctantly paddling back to shore, we brunched at the family-owned Bert’s Cafe, gathered up some groceries, and leisurely made our way out of Tahoe to make the almost 3-hour drive to our first National Park stop!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We made our way to our Mill Creek Resort in Mineral, California to stay in our vintage cabin for the next 3 nights. Mill Creek is family-owned and has 9 cabins, an RV site park, RV rentals, a venue space, and more just 20 minutes from the south entrance of Lassen. They held a weekly movie night (we were hit with a classic: Goonies), had yoga classes, and so much more — my favorite part of all was no Wi-Fi. Our comfy cabin was basically a tiny home that had all that we needed and was an amazing start to feeling disconnected from noise, fully tuned into nature, uninterrupted conversation and enjoying full-on sunshine for the next 9 days.

Lassen is quite the underrated Park. And you probably know nothing about it. Fret not, for I am here to educate. Ole Lassen Volcanic is one of the 9 National Parks in the state of California and inhabits, you guessed it, volcanoes. Four different kinds to be exact: plug dome (the largest in the world!), cinder cone, shield, and stratovolcano. Hydrothermal sites, lava rocks, forests, and trails all make up this unique stretch of earth and it’s often referred to as the “mini Yellowstone.”

We arrived to the south entrance visitor center of Lassen and got the lay of the land. A short film in the auditorium, lookouts out back, and interactive visuals of the history of Park and the volcanoes themselves. What we quickly got the cheese on was that due to the elevation of much of Lassen, crews were still working around the clock to clear the snow in some of the most popular parts of the Park which included Bumpass Hell — the top of my list. I. was. BUMMED.

But, such is travel. We mapped out all that we could do and made our way to our first stop at Sulphur Works — the rotten-egg smelling wonder. Many continued for miles on foot while we left the south entrance and drove around the outskirts to come through the north entrance where we were greeted by Manzanita Lake and views of Lassen Peak. Perhaps the most interesting part of this area was the Loomis Museum where the original camera and life size photos taken from Benjamin Franklin Loomis are displayed. His photos of the 1914-1915 eruptions of Lassen Peak fostered attention and support to make Lassen Volcanic a National Park. As we were walking amongst these moments that made history, I kept thinking about what it would be like to witness a volcano eruption. To watch Mother Nature have her way and devastate but also begin a new cycle of life. Lassen was a reflection of just that: life that pushed through after massive disruption. I remember telling Ashley that this all was beautiful but not in the traditional sense… more in the way of something completely different that caused a pause of wonder and appreciation at something that holds such power, but allows us to visit anyway. How cool is that?

The following day brought us the chance to hike to one of the volcanoes: Cinder Cone! The northeast part of Lassen has no visitor center and the 6-mile gravel road into this part of the Park will have you second guessing if you’re actually heading toward, well, anything. Alas, when pulling up to park your first view is of Butte Lake with folks picnicking and paddling out on their kayaks. Putting the lake in our rear view, we ventured onto the trail toward Cinder Cone which was a mix between sand and dirt, causing our feet to sink in the ground as we walked. Coupled with a gradual incline, this gorgeous hike did prove to be a little bit of a challenge. By the time we reached the bottom of the volcano (this one wasn’t too intimidating as its last eruption was the year 1666), the altitude really caught up as I my breath got super short. I wasn’t alone, though… many were keeled over trying to elongate their inhales and exhales. To no avail, we decided to enjoy the views at the bottom and watched people go up and run? trot? down at a rapid pace. The elevation is almost 7,000 feet!

And that was it! All that could possibly be done at Lassen Volcanic in 2 1/2 - 3 days. Being close by in Mineral (Mill Creek) was an advantage of accessibility to the Park and getting a camp feel that provided amenities. There aren’t any hotels around Lassen, just a couple campgrounds similar to Mill Creek — and I would’ve have it any other way.