Day Hiking

Most of the easy interpretive walks and short day hikes run out to the sights of Mount Lassen Volcanic Park [1]. For hikers who want to get out away from the more touristy areas but still make it back to their cars before dark, moderate-to-difficult hiking trails offer adventure, challenge, and maybe even a touch of solitude.

The Kings Creek Falls (Road Marker 32, 3 miles round-trip, moderate) starts out easy. Your initial walk will be downhill to the falls. Be sure to stop to admire the small cascade and pool, perhaps sit down and have a drink and a snack to prepare for the 700-foot climb back up to the trailhead. This makes for a good hike for fitter day-hikers who’ve been on the mountain for a couple of hours.

It’s the length of the trail that runs from Summit Lake to Echo and Twin Lakes (east side of Summit Lake [2], 8 miles round-trip, moderate to difficult) that makes it hard to do. But you can choose how many little lakes you really want to see as you run short on breath.

Happily, the ascent over this long trail is only 500 feet total—a gentle slope in these mountainous reaches. If you just walk out to Echo Lake, you’ll have a pleasant and sedate four-mile walk. It’s another two miles to get out to Upper Twin Lake and back, and a final two miles to reach Lower Twin Lake. You might want to wear a swimsuit under your hiking clothes on hot summer days, and cool off in one of the lakes before trekking back to base.

One trail that does not offer much in the way of solitary communion with nature is the path up to Lassen Peak [3] (difficult). A large parking lot with a gift/snack shop and chemical toilet facilities sits at the barren trailhead. In the parking area sit the cars of the many visitors who want to climb up to the highest point on Mount Lassen.

But at the top, the views will make you forget the torturous climb, if only for a few moments. Be sure to turn all the way around to get 360° views back down to the newest volcanic landscape, then across to the remains of the giant caldera of an extinct huge volcano, then out west toward Cascade Range neighbor Mount Shasta [4].

For a good, solid, all-day, steep hike, climb up Brokeoff Mountain (Road Marker 2, 7.5 miles round-trip, difficult). Brokeoff makes a good second or third day Lassen hike—with an unrelenting 2,600-foot ascent from an already mile-high starting point, thin air and altitude sickness can be a real concern for out-of-shape, unacclimated hikers.

On the other hand, if you’re ready for it, this can be one of the prettiest and most serene hikes in the populous section of the park. Enjoy the pretty mountain streams and stellar views out over the mountains and valleys of far-Northern California.