Lassen Peak, Lassen Volcanic National Park

The trail begins at the foot of the South face of Lassen Peak, just past Lake Helen and attached to a parking area big enough to handle some of the busiest days in the park.

The initial part of the trail carves a straight line directly towards the mountain making it seem like the most direct route ever. But that doesn’t last long and soon you’ll be switch-backing your way up to the summit.

On your way you’ll encounter an occasional shortcut - we encourage you to ignore these in order to preserve the mountain and also since supposed shortcuts like these are often harder than the real trail itself.

Bagging this peak should be a breeze, just so long as you treat the next two and a half miles with some respect and take the two thousand foot elevation gain nice and steady. And of course, you can keep reminding yourself that the journey back down will be so much easier.

You won’t need us to remind you that you’re hiking at elevation up here, so you’ll likely be taking a few breaks on the way up, but that just gives you all the more time to enjoy the incredible views over the park.

From an elevation 10,462ft above sea level the views from the peak at are nothing short of spectacular on a clear day, stretching as far as the massive snowcapped Mount Shasta over seventy miles away.

If you're wondering whether the active volcano you're currently standing on top of could explode at any moment then you needn't worry.

And if you are the worrying type, perhaps now's not the time to tell you that with the exception of Mt. St. Helens (1982), Lassen Peak is the most recent of the Cascade Range peaks to erupt (1915-1917).