Lassen Volcanic - Introduction
Lassen Peak looms in the distance beyond Anita Lake
The Cascade Range stretches from Canada into northeastern California. Among these mountains is 10,457-foot Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost non-extinct volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Peak stands above its surroundings, serving as the centerpiece of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Beyond the prominent peak is a collection of deep blue alpine lakes, dense conifer forests, stinking fumaroles, belching mudpots, roiling hot springs, and boisterous streams. It’s a place where features that are so obviously of this earth blend with those that are altogether otherworldly. Perhaps a greater mystery than how these landscapes were united is how today they go by relatively unnoticed.
Native Americans first took notice of the mountain and its surrounding landscapes, visiting seasonally to hunt and gather food. Lassen Peak served as a meeting site for four American Indian groups: Atsugewi, Yana, Yahi, and Maidu. Thanks were given for the food the region provided, but Natives eyed Lassen Peak with great suspicion. They knew it was filled with fire and water and believed there would come a day when it would blow apart, causing considerable damage to the region and potentially its people.
During the mid-19th century, California was flooded with gold-seeking 49ers. While trekking across the Cascades to fertile soils of the Sacramento Valley they used the mighty peak as a landmark to assure their course was correct. One of the guides who led hopeful prospectors on this journey was Peter Lassen, a Danish blacksmith who settled in northern California in the 1830s. Together with William Nobles, they blazed the first two pioneer trails. Portions of Lassen and Nobles Emigrant Trail are still visible and used today.
As the gold rush subsided, Lassen Peak and its surroundings returned to a life of anonymity. But the United States was growing and forests were being cut at an astonishing rate. No tree was sacred to the lumberjacks. Neither the coastal redwoods nor the Sierra Nevada’s giant sequoias were safe from the loggers’ axe and saw. If these trees were in danger, so too were the pine and fir of the southern Cascades. With its forests in peril, a conservationist president also took notice of this volcanic region. President Theodore Roosevelt preserved vast tracts of land for the enjoyment of the American people, including two regions in the southern Cascades: Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument. This designation spared the trees and opened the region to an era of tourism.
But few Americans took notice. In May of 1915, as if to make people aware of its presence once more, the volcano woke up with a series of minor eruptions. These events created a new crater, released lava and ash, and razed several homes. Incandescent blocks of lava could be seen rolling down the flanks of Lassen Peak from 20 miles away. No one was killed by the eruptions, but people began to notice its fury. Scientists took interest in the park’s volcanoes. Washington also was aware these events, and in 1916, largely thanks to the volcanic activity, the two monuments were combined and expanded to create Lassen Volcanic National Park. The eruptions stopped in 1921. Once again the region was forgotten.
Perhaps some things are best left forgotten. Roads are rarely congested. Campgrounds seldom fill. If you’re looking for a California getaway where volcanic past meets picturesque present, a place filled with wildlife not automobiles, a place where the mud boils and the earth steams, Lassen National Park is for you. Let this serve as your reminder that there’s a national park in northern California filled with natural beauty, rich history, and most importantly, peace and quiet from the busy everyday lifestyle that tends to make a person forget a few things.