Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park covers about 106,589 acres of California, about three hours north-east of Sacramento, around Lassen Peak, a volcano 10,457 feet high. It became a national park on 9 August 1916 and had 504,777 recreation visits in 2025. July was the busiest month, with 113,062, and February the quietest, with 6,438.

Snow decides almost everything here, from the one road across the park to the day the main trail opens. We read the figures below on 28 October 2026 on the park's own pages and alerts, its road-history table, the concessioner's site, Recreation.gov, Caltrans and NOAA's normals.

Is Highway 89 through Lassen still open at the end of October?

Lassen's Highway 89 had no closure alert on 28 October 2026. By the Park Service's own rule, "if there is no active closure alert, then the park road is fully open". No park page dated this week says "open" in so many words, though. The conditions page was last updated on 18 July, and the road can close any day from now.

The highway is the only road through the park, about 30 miles from the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center in the south-west to Manzanita Lake in the north-west. It crests at about 8,500 feet near the Lassen Peak trailhead. The speed limit is 35 mph, and the drive takes about an hour without stops.

The Park Service's own table of closing dates is the tool to plan an autumn trip with. Over 46 winters, from 1980 to 2025, the highway closed for the season on a median date of 10 November. The earliest closing was 18 October 1996 and the latest 18 December 2013.

In 12 of those 46 winters it closed before 1 November, and in 10 on or before 28 October. In 2025 it closed on 24 October. The table counts only the official closing for the year, and the park notes that the road may close temporarily earlier after lighter snow.

In spring, the highway opened to cars on 22 May 2026, after a winter with 91 inches of snow at Lake Helen on 1 April. Across 47 springs the median opening is 2 June. In 8 of them the road opened after 30 June, and in 2017 not until 26 July. Walkers and cyclists get the cleared sections before cars do.

How much is Lassen's entrance fee, and why does the gate take no cash?

Lassen charges $30 per car for seven days from 16 April to 30 November, and $10 from 1 December to 15 April. A motorcycle pays $25 or $10, and a person on foot or bicycle aged 16 or over $15 or $10. Children under 16 enter free.

Lassen has been cashless since 8 April 2023, so the entrance stations take cards only. The one way to pay cash is to buy the $30 pass from the Lassen Association at the visitor centre bookstore or the Loomis Residence. From October to most of May the entrances are staffed only on most weekends, and a pass is still required; it can be bought on Recreation.gov.

Lassen is not on the 2026 list of eleven parks with a $100 surcharge, so visitors from abroad pay what Americans pay. No reservation is needed to enter. The park's $55 annual pass, which also covers Crater Lake National Park, Whiskeytown and Lava Beds, is sold only to US citizens and residents.

The same limit applies to the last fee-free day of 2026, 11 November. The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass does not pay off at Lassen alone. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors shows when it does.

When does the Bumpass Hell boardwalk open?

The Bumpass Hell trail opens once its snow and ice have gone, which between 2011 and 2026 happened between 7 June and 13 September. The median opening was 2 July, and in 2026 the trail opened on 26 June. It stayed closed all of 2018 for rehabilitation of the trail and boardwalk.

Bumpass Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in the park, a 16-acre basin of fumaroles, mud pots and boiling pools crossed by a boardwalk. The trail is 3 miles round trip on four Park Service pages, though its trail-conditions table says 2.8. It runs at 8,200 to 8,400 feet, climbing gently for a mile and then dropping into the basin.

The trail closes again when snow covers it, and the park publishes no closing dates. Whether it was open on 28 October 2026 is not stated anywhere we could read. The trail tables stopped updating in July, and there was no trail alert. The park's own rule of thumb: snow on Lassen Peak means snow on these trails too.

The trailhead car park is often full from mid-morning to early afternoon, especially at weekends, and has vault toilets only. Pets are not allowed on any park trail. Leaving the boardwalk or a path in a hydrothermal area is dangerous and illegal; the water and mud are acidic.

Sulphur Works is the park's most easily reached hydrothermal area, with boiling mud pots and steam vents beside a sidewalk. Its car park is a mile north of the Southwest Entrance. In May 2012 a visitor who stepped off that sidewalk was airlifted to a burn unit.

Which volcanoes make up Lassen Volcanic?

Lassen Volcanic holds all four types of volcano: shield, composite, cinder cone and plug dome. The Lassen Volcanic Center began to erupt about 825,000 years ago. Lassen Peak, a plug dome, last erupted about 100 years ago, and Cinder Cone about 350 years ago.

The Park Service calls Lassen Peak the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. Its eruption page describes an explosive eruption on 22 May 1915, the most powerful of a series from 1914 to 1917; the park's press kit gives 19 May. Ash fell as far as 200 miles to the east. Lassen Peak and Cinder Cone had been national monuments since 1907.

Chaos Crags, above Manzanita Lake, formed about 1,100 years ago. The US Geological Survey and the California Volcano Observatory monitor the area with seismometers.

In 2021 the Dixie Fire burned 73,240 acres inside the park, the largest fire in its history. The trails west of the highway were not affected. Many trails in the east, around Warner Valley and Juniper Lake, run through the burn and carry warnings about dead trees.

How hard is the Lassen Peak trail?

The Lassen Peak trail is strenuous: 5 miles round trip, a climb of 1,957 feet from a start at 8,500 feet, and four to five hours of walking. The maintained trail ends at the first summit. Snow is possible in any month, and patches can last on the trail into August.

The park's July table marked the trail "hike with caution" because of a deep snow field. Its status on 28 October 2026 was not published. Start early to avoid afternoon storms, and stay on the switchbacks.

The distances are the park's own figures. Cinder Cone climbs 200 feet from its base to the summit. Boiling Springs Lake sits at around 125°F, and Devils Kitchen, also in Warner Valley, is 4.2 miles round trip.

What is left at Manzanita Lake after 12 October?

Manzanita Lake's camping cabins and Camper Store both closed for the 2026 season on 12 October. The store held the only petrol pumps inside the park, so there is none now. Rangers cannot supply fuel, and the nearest stations are in Shingletown and Old Station to the north and Chester and Red Bluff to the south.

Manzanita Lake Campground ended its full service on 7 October. Loops A and B stay open for dry camping, without drinking water or flush toilets, until snow closes them. On 28 October Recreation.gov showed sites in Loops A and B bookable to 1 November, and Loops C and D closed. Manzanita Lake Campground needs a Recreation.gov reservation even during dry camping.

The cabins have no electricity and no bedding, and guests share central restrooms and showers. Manzanita Lake has no hookups for motorhomes; the nearest are in Mineral and Shingletown. Fishing on Manzanita Lake is catch and release only, and only boats without motors are allowed.

Stage 2 fire restrictions have been in force since 31 July 2026, "until rescinded", and we found no release lifting them by 28 October. They ban open fires, campfires and stove fires, though self-contained propane stoves are allowed.

What can you do at Lassen once snow shuts the highway?

Lassen in winter is two plowed stubs, not a through road. The highway closes at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center in the south-west and at Loomis Plaza in the north-west, roughly from November to June. Cars reach about a mile in from each entrance, and the rest of the park lies under snow.

The park's home page puts the snowfall at over 30 feet a year. The deepest reading on record at the Lower Lassen Peak snow course was 331 inches, in April 1983. NOAA publishes no snowfall normal for Manzanita Lake or Mineral. There is no petrol in the park in winter and little or no phone signal.

Beyond the plowed ends the park becomes a place for skis and snowshoes. From the visitor centre, the highway route to Sulphur Works is 2 miles round trip, about an hour on skis, and graded for beginners. From Manzanita Lake, a snowshoe loop round the lake runs 1.8 miles. Climbing Lassen Peak in winter is a 17-mile trip of about three days, with avalanche terrain along the highway beyond Sulphur Works.

The Park Service names sledding as the main cause of injury to winter visitors. During heavy snow, plowing in the south-west area stops in the early afternoon. Snowmobiles are banned inside the park, pets may not go on snow-covered routes, and visitors should stay off the lake ice.

Driving from one entrance to the other in winter means going round the park. The Park Service gives a western route of 71 miles, about 1 hour 45 minutes, which it does not recommend for motorhomes and trailers. Its eastern route is 106 miles, about two hours, and suits them. Our own routing of the western route came out at 77 miles and 2 hours 24 minutes.

What is open at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center and the Loomis Museum?

The Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center, by the Southwest Entrance, is open all year, seven days a week, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to the park's hours page of 16 September 2026. The park's autumn page says hours usually change in October, but we found no posted winter schedule. In winter it is the only place in the park with services.

The visitor centre has an information desk, exhibits, a bookstore and a 20-minute park film. Restrooms, water and free Wi-Fi in its vestibule are open around the clock. The Lassen Café & Gift inside opens daily from late May to early October, on the concessioner's dates.

The two Level 2 electric car chargers outside have both been offline since 29 March 2026. On 28 October the park's alert called them non-functional, with no timeline, while its directions page still described them as available all year.

The Loomis Museum, near the northwest entrance, holds historic photographs of Lassen Peak's eruption in 1914. The hours page lists its 2026 season as 21 May to 2 November, Thursday to Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The autumn page says it closes in mid-October. Loomis Plaza keeps restrooms with water open around the clock.

The park phone, 530-595-6100, works only intermittently, and the park suggests emailing lavo_information@nps.gov instead. AT&T and Verizon give the widest coverage, mostly at the Bumpass Hell and Lassen Peak car parks. The developed campgrounds have no reception.

How cold is Manzanita Lake against Redding and Reno?

Manzanita Lake, at 5,750 feet, averages 79°F in July against Redding's 100°F, 21°F cooler. It averages 195 nights a year at or below freezing. Redding averages 106 days a year above 90°F, and Manzanita Lake three or four.

The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 average highs and lows. Mineral is the closest community to the Southwest Entrance. Manzanita Lake gets about 42 inches of precipitation a year, and Reno, east of the mountains, about 7.

The park warns that wildfires often occur between July and October, and that air quality can change from hour to hour in fire season. Two low months stand out in the park's visit figures.

In August 2021 it recorded 558 visits; the Dixie Fire moved along its east side from 5 August to 16 September that year. In August 2024 it recorded 16,641; the park closed for the Park Fire on 27 July and partly reopened on 17 August. The year totals were 359,635 in 2021 and 357,651 in 2024.

How do you reach Lassen's two entrances from Redding, Sacramento and Reno?

Lassen has two main entrances. The Southwest Entrance, by the visitor centre, is on State Route 36 and 89, and the northwest entrance at Manzanita Lake on State Route 44 and 89. There is no public transport to or inside the park, and no shuttle. The Park Service names Redding, Sacramento and Reno as the nearest airports.

The distances in the table are our own routing, by routes outside the park that stay usable when the highway is closed. Our times run slower than the park's on mountain roads. From Reno, crossing the park on the highway in summer adds distance rather than saving it.

Outside the park the roads may be snowy or icy, need chains, or close in severe weather, and Caltrans reports them on 1-800-427-7623. On the morning of 28 October it reported no restrictions on State Route 44. Butte Lake, Juniper Lake and Warner Valley are reached by dirt roads that are not maintained in winter.

The park is on Pacific Time, and clocks went back an hour on 1 November 2026. Our guide to California covers the state's other national parks, among them Redwood National and State Parks. The other national parks in California are Channel Islands National Park, Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Pinnacles National Park, Redwood National and State Parks, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Yosemite National Park.