Weekend Trip to Lava Beds National Monument and Lassen National Park

Lava Beds National Monument and Lassen Volcanic National Parks are lesser-known parks/monuments in the northeastern California region due to their more remote location. Even though this is the case, you should not discount the beauty you will find in these two areas. This post provides an overview of Lava Beds and Lassen and information on an itinerary for a weekend getaway from San Francisco.

Lava Beds National Monument

Lava Beds is a National Monument in northeastern California (~6+ hour drive from San Francisco area), and due to its remote location, it is not very well known. Because of this fact, you will enjoy the peace and quiet when visiting Lava Beds, even if your visit falls on a national holiday. My sisters and I went during the 4th of July weekend, and you can’t really tell you are there on a “busy” weekend. It is a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of holiday traffic everywhere else you go.

Lava Beds has the largest known concentration of lava tube caves in North America. Unlike other National Monuments or National Parks, there are very few restrictions while exploring the caves. With the exception of the Mushpot Cave, which I would consider the “intro cave,” there aren’t very many railings or man-made obstructions to stop you from exploring freely.

The 20 caves are grouped into categories of “Least Challenging,” “Moderately Challenging,” and “Most Challenging.”

• The “Least Challenging” caves have relatively high ceilings and smoother floors or trails so that you can walk upright for the most part.
• The “Moderately Challenging” caves may require stooping through low sections and/or rough floors. There may be more difficult areas where you would want to wear protective gear to protect your head.
• The “Most Challenging” caves have portions which require crawling, and thus, helmets, knee pads, and gloves are needed for these caves. Maps are available r purchase at the visitor’s center.

Since we only had one day at Lava Beds and we were not experienced cavers, we focused on a tour of the easier caves. At the visitor’s center, they recommended the following caves to get a good overview of the lava tubes in the area:

• Mushpot Cave (least challenging): this is a very easy intro cave next to the visitor’s center. It has good lighting throughout, railings, and smooth floors to walk on. As this is a introduction to the lava tubes, there are interpretive signs throughout the cave to explain formations, ecology, and cave climate. It is a quick walk in/out and gives you a good overview of the lava tubes, so I would recommend starting with this one.
• Golden Dome Cave (moderately challenging): this cave looks like it has a golden ceiling because of the light reflecting off water droplets that bead up on a coating of hydrophobic bacteria. The cave is shaped like a figure 8, so you can pick a path you want to go on and still not get lost. Some portions of this cave require stooping and some crawling (if you decide to go a particular route).
• Lower/Upper Sentinel Cave (least challenging): this cave has two entrances you can pick from – one lower and one upper. You go in on one end and come out the other. You can either park at the side you enter in then hike back when you are done, or you can park at the exit side and hike back to the entrance.
• Skull Cave (least challenging): it’s a wide open and short cave and is worth visiting because there is an ice cave at the end of it due to cold air that is trapped inside.
• Balcony Cave/Boulevard Cave (moderately challenging): there is some crawling involved if you want to explore the Boulevard area.

Before you start your adventures, make sure you go to the Visitor’s Center to screen for “white nose syndrome,” a disease that is killing off the bats. When you go they will ask if you have visited other caves in recent years with your clothes/shoes/packs. If you have, the rangers will go through a decontamination with your belongings. The rangers are also very helpful in recommending caves to go to depending on your ability, group size, and what you are looking for. You can also check out lanterns here if you didn’t bring a light. If you did not go through the main gate to pay the entrance fee, you will need to pay the fee at the Visitor’s Center.

Packing List for Lava Beds National Monument

• Helmets for head protection. I was so glad we had our helmets with us. As 5’2 person I am not considered a tall person by any means, and I found myself constantly bumping my head on the ceiling, even in the “Least Challenging” caves. Even if you don’t plan on going to the more difficult caves, be sure to pack a helmet to protect your head! The helmets don’t have to be fancy – basic bicycle helmets will do. We used a combination of bike helmets and snowboarding helmets in our group.
• Knee pads for crawling. Even though we did not go into the “Most Challenging” caves I still found myself crawling in certain sections just to see what’s “over there.” If you plan on doing the Boulevard Cave, you will definitely need those knee pads unless you really like to do squats. We did not bring any knee pads and I totally wish we did! For the very little crawling I did, my knees really hurt!
• Gloves for crawling.  At times you will find yourself on all 4’s wishing you had gloves so your hands would stop hurting….
• Light. With the exception of Mushpot (the starter cave), there will not be any source of light  caves. Thus, all caves are pitch black inside! You will definitely need a light to get around. Head lamps are the easiest so you can keep your hands free for crawling, picture-taking, etc. You can also bring flash lights and lanterns. The caves are no joke (some floors are rocky and uneven), so I would focus on finding the brightest light you can get. The visitor’s center does provide lanterns for free (just leave your ID behind), but they are pretty bulky and not as bright as some of the head lamps you may have. Also you are limited by time – you will have to remember to turn in the light before the office closes.
• Extra layers. Even if it is super hot out, the caves are 55 degrees year round. If you get cold easily, it might be a good idea to bring a few layers with you.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northern California, about 2.5 hours drive south of Lava Beds National Monument. Out of all the National Parks in the US, it is one of least visited ones. Thus it is not as crowded as other National Parks, even on a national holiday weekend. Due to the volcanic activity in the area, it is like a mini Yellowstone. At this park you will see a little of everything – geysers, mud pots, hot springs, and volcanoes. You will find different wildlife and vegetation throughout and there are many hiking trails to choose from.

During the day trip, we stopped at major sights in the park, such as Sulphur Works and Emerald Lake, as well as Kings Creek Falls (very short and easy hike) and Ridge Lakes (~2 miles steep hike, especially with snow blocking the path).

 

The time you visit will affect your experience in the park. Even though we went in the middle of summer (July), there was still snow on the ground that blocked off trails, making the trails inaccessible to visitors. If you want to hike in the park, you may want to go later in the summer or check with the park rangers first on trail conditions before you plan your trip.

Weekend Itinerary

We drove up from San Francisco to spend the weekend in this area, and we managed to visit both Lava Beds and Lassen Volcanic National Park during this time. This is how we did it.

Friday night: drove half way from San Francisco to Red Bluff (~3.5 hours) in the evening. Stayed the night in Red Bluff.

Saturday: Started early to drive from Red Bluff to Lava Beds National Monument (~3.5 hours). Spent the day exploring the lava tubes at Lava Beds. Returned to Red Bluff to spend the night there (another 3.5 hours).

Sunday: Drove from Red Bluff to Lassen Volcanic National Park (~1 hour). Spent the day exploring Lassen National Park. Drove back to San Francisco that night (~4 hours).

As you can see it was a packed weekend, and we did a lot of driving; however if you don’t have a lot of time, I would recommend this itinerary to maximize your weekend and get an overview of both Lava Beds and Lassen.