Lassen Volcanic National Park in California's northern highlands is a very under used and under appreciated. It's clearly an alpine setting, but with surprises.
This is one entrance, it's a drive through park. If you continue to follow this road it will connect with Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Called the Volcanic Trail it directly connects two Volcanic (but very different) National Parks.
Lassen is much closer to active than Crater Lake. Both were formed as the result of huge volcanic eruptions but Lassen still steams while Crater Lake is cold.
Not far inside the gate you come to an area known as Sulfur Works, so named because in 1865 an enterprising fellow opened a sulfur mine here. After the mine petered out the family built mineral baths and steam rooms at the site. The National Park Service acquired the place in 1955.
That is the view from the road. It has to be the most accessible boiling mud pot in the US.
Just think. I had to walk 30 meters for this view. Amazing accessibility. This pot smells of sulfur (rotten egg) and is continually active.
Another view from the sidewalk. The pot is violently active and always changing. After all the people that have been hurt in Yellowstone by walking too close to volcanic functions I am surprised that this pot is so accessible.
The ground is barren in the vicinity of the pots, and there are steam vents all over. You can see steam escaping above and left of center in this picture.
You can plainly see the effect on some of the nearby plants. This bush is badly stained and obviously dead in places.
The yellow color in this frame is sulfur that has been deposited by the vent over the years. There is no doubt that past the 'toxic' radius that the sulphur makes good fertilizer for the local flora.
I'm going to end this post with one more look at the roadside mud pot. There is more to come from Sulfur Works but I'll pick it up in the next post.
Thanks for reading all the way through, I really appreciate it.
All words and photos in this post are mine. For better or worse.
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