#14573 Driving Across a Volcano in Northern California

A drive through Lassen Volcanic National Park feels nothing at all like the crowded urban sprawl of California. You might be alone on the road—something that never happens on the thoroughfares of Yosemite. Take a moment to catch your breath at 8000+ feet before hiking out to the boiling mudpots and fumaroles of Bumpass Hell. The interpretive walk through the Devastated Area is easier and just as full of active volcanic reminders. At the Loomis Museum, photos capture the 1915 eruption of Lassen and the rapid regrowth of the region. On the other side of the mountain, teensy crystalline lakelets offer miniature forested oases for travelers who’d like to forget that the ground beneath them might melt, literally.