Saturday, August 17, was a good day for people wanting to experience Lassen Volcanic National Park. The park in California is home to steaming funaroles, wildflower-strewn meadows, beautiful alpine lakes, and its famous numerous volcanoes.
Recently, the area experienced a wildfire called the 2024 Park Fire, which burned more than 425,000 acres in Butte, Plumas, Tehama, and Shasta counties. The fire is the fourth largest fire in California history. Although the fire never penetrated the park boundaries, there is still a threat on the south side and in the local communities of Mineral and Mill Creek.
The fire danger has been determined to have decreased to a safe level, allowing certain parts of the park to reopen. Even at this level, visitors should expect smoke and reduced air quality in the area.
According to the National Park Service, Highway 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park is open to vehicles from the northwest entrance at Manzanita Lake to the parking lot at the Devastated Area. From there, the highway is open to bicycles and pedestrians only to Summit Lake. Due to ongoing evacuation orders and warnings, the highway is closed to all traffic from Summit Lake to the southwest park boundary.
The peripheral areas of the park, such as Butte Lake, Juniper Lake and Warner Valley, will remain closed until normal park operations resume.
Regular admission of $30 applies. Visitors should expect limited services as park staff work to resume operations. The Loomis Museum will be open for information Saturday through Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Lassen Association Store will also resume normal operations on Saturday, August 17.
The Manzanita Lake Camper Store will be open for retail sales, grab-and-go food sales, laundry service, and showers beginning August 17. Gasoline will be available as soon as possible. It is not yet known if and when the Manzanita Lake Cabins will reopen.
Manzanita Lake Campground will reopen for reservations beginning Monday, August 26. Fires, including campfires and charcoal grills, are prohibited. Cooking and lighting appliances with ignition sources that can be turned off and do not produce ash are permitted. Summit Lake Campground will remain closed. The entire park will remain closed to backcountry camping while park closures are in effect.
Open trails include Manzanita Lake, Nobles Emigrant, Chaos Crags, and Echo Lake/Twin Lakes. Closed trails include Bumpass Hell, Lassen Peak, and Mill Creek Falls.
More than 6,000 people from across the country were dispatched to the park fire, with cooler temperatures and higher humidity helping the dedicated firefighters try to contain the situation.
Information about the fire and firefighting operations can be found at https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2024/7/24/park-fire.
For all information regarding changes to Lassen Volcanic National Park operations and park-specific information, visit www.nps.gov/lavo.
