Devastated Area and Manzanita Lake
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Our final day in Lassen Volcanic National Park started with a quiet stroll around Summit Lake at our campground. Five female grouse were working the grassy edges as we walked. A female Williamson’s Sapsucker was flitting through the pines. We then set out for some final stops to explore.
Summit Lake
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First was the Devastated Area Trail. We'd been driving through miles of charred hillsides, so I wondered why this area was labeled “devastated.” But once I got out on the short trail, I realized this destruction was much different. In 1915, Lassen Peak blew its top. It’s a plug-dome volcano, which means magma rises and hardens into a “cap” until the pressure builds so much that it blasts through. When it did, a wall of melted snow and rock avalanched more than five miles downhill, flattening everything in its path. The trees have grown back now, but the massive boulders remain, some carried here from the 1915 blast, others from Lassen’s first eruption 26,000 years ago.
After that, we circled Manzanita Lake, a flat 1.7-mile loop with views of Lassen Peak and the jagged Chaos Crags reflected in the water. The Chaos Crags domes were formed about 1,100 years ago when thick magma piled up instead of flowing. Along the route we came upon a family of American coots, ducks dabbling near the reeds, and an American dipper pruning on a rock.
Heading back to camp, we stopped at the viewpoint for the Chaos Jumbles. About 350 years ago, part of the Crags collapsed in a massive rock avalanche. Picture a wall of boulders breaking loose and racing three miles downhill at over 100 miles an hour. Today that jumbled pile of rock still stretches for miles.
Just down the road is the Hot Rock site, where a 300 ton rock from Lassen’s 1915 eruption landed. It was so hot it stayed warm for days, drawing curious visitors who came to see the aftermath.
We also passed another giant rock with a stick wedged underneath, as if it was holding it up. Gave us a chuckle. Someone went out of their way to set up this prop.
A quieter day overall, but the mix of fresh air, grouse, ducks, and fiery stories from the past made it a great way to close out our time in Lassen.
After that, we circled Manzanita Lake, a flat 1.7-mile loop with views of Lassen Peak and the jagged Chaos Crags reflected in the water. The Chaos Crags domes were formed about 1,100 years ago when thick magma piled up instead of flowing. Along the route we came upon a family of American coots, ducks dabbling near the reeds, and an American dipper pruning on a rock.
Heading back to camp, we stopped at the viewpoint for the Chaos Jumbles. About 350 years ago, part of the Crags collapsed in a massive rock avalanche. Picture a wall of boulders breaking loose and racing three miles downhill at over 100 miles an hour. Today that jumbled pile of rock still stretches for miles.
Just down the road is the Hot Rock site, where a 300 ton rock from Lassen’s 1915 eruption landed. It was so hot it stayed warm for days, drawing curious visitors who came to see the aftermath.
We also passed another giant rock with a stick wedged underneath, as if it was holding it up. Gave us a chuckle. Someone went out of their way to set up this prop.
A quieter day overall, but the mix of fresh air, grouse, ducks, and fiery stories from the past made it a great way to close out our time in Lassen.