Lassen Peak Highway - Lassen Volcanic National Park

We visited Lassen Volcanic National Park in mid-August 2013.  Entering from the southwest, our first stop was just past the entrance station at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center.  There we found exhibits, a theater showing a captivating 22-minute film entitled The Story Behind the Landscape, a small bookstore, restrooms and a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating.  

High on our list of things to do was to drive the scenic Lassen Peak Highway across the park.  This 30-mile route is also marked as California 89.  The starting point for almost all of our additional exploration of the park was along this highway, so we traversed it several times during our visit.  The road climbs from 6700' elevation at the visitor center to over 8500' near the parking area for Lassen Peak Trail before descending to 5900' at the Loomis Museum near the northwest entrance.  

The pictures below were taken over the span of several days during our visit.  

Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center

Brokeoff Mountain

Ridges in the mist

Roadside wildflowers

Roadside vegetation clinging to the slope

More roadside wildflowers

Looking northeast toward Bumpass Hell and Bumpass Mountain

10,457' Mount Lassen (Lassen Peak)

Little Hot Springs Valley

Emerald Lake

Reflections in Lake Helen

Mount Lassen above Lake Helen

Brokeoff Mountain behind Lake Helen

Mount Lassen from the south

Mount Lassen Trail

Looking southeast from east of Mt Helen

The road winds down the mountain (elev 8100' here)

Mount Lassen above the upper meadow of Kings Creek

8530' Chaos Crags

U.S. Congressman John E. Raker introduced a bill to establish "Peter Lassen National Park" in 1912, but it didn't go anywhere until Mount Lassen erupted a couple of years later.  Local sawmill owner and amateur photographer Benjamin Franklin Loomis took a series of six photographs on the morning of June 14, 1914 that were published throughout the country.  The eruption was the catalyst to move legislation forward to create the nation's fifteenth national park in 1916.  The Louisa Mae Loomis Memorial Museum was built by Mr. Loomis and dedicated to the memory of his only child.  Among other items, the museum housed a portion of the collection of his photographs of the 1914 and 1915 eruptions on Mount Lassen.  The museum now houses wall-sized reproductions of some of the most famous of those photographs as well as a small theater showing The Story Behind the Landscape and a small visitor information desk.  

Loomis Ranger Station

Loomis Museum

Loomis Seismograph

Mount Lassen from the shore of  Manzanita Lake

Northern face of Mount Lassen

A $10 vehicle pass is valid for seven consecutive days.  Another option is to purchase the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass valid for one year for $80.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm.