Lassen Volcanic National Park is a geologically active zone in northern California, USA, about 80 km away. east of Redding. The park is home to the Lassen Peak volcano, whose height reaches 3187 meters; he and the volcano St. Helens, located about 640 km. to the north, were the only active volcanoes in the 48 contiguous states of the United States during the 20th century.
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| Lassen Volcanic National Park |
Lassen Peak and the cinder cones northeast of it were designated as National Monuments in 1907; they formed the core of the national park when it was founded in 1916. The park has an area of 430 km2 and is surrounded by the Lassen National Forest. The park occupies the southernmost part of the Cascade Range (which also contains Mount St. Helens) on the northern border of the Sierra Nevada.
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| Lassen Volcanic National Park |
History
The Lassen region was once a hunting area for the indigenous peoples of America. Between 600,000 and 350,000 years ago, the western part of the present park was occupied by Mount Tehama, a stratovolcano that exploded to create a caldera about 5 km wide. A number of volcanic peaks, including Lassen Peak, mark the edge of a ruined caldera.
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| Lassen Volcanic National Park |
Lassen's Peak erupted intermittently between 1914 and 1921, most spectacularly in 1915. Other evidence of volcanic activity includes formations such as cinder cones, Chaos Rocks and Bampas Hell; the latter is the largest of several geothermal zones in the park, with boiling mud pots, sulfur vents and steaming fumaroles. Numerous small lakes are scattered throughout the park, the largest of which are on the east side.
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| Lassen Volcanic National Park |
The park includes a number of areas that are in various stages of plant growth following volcanic eruptions in the early 20th century. The predominant vegetation is coniferous forests. In summer, wildflowers grow in abundance. The fauna includes deer, black bears and other forest mammals; numerous migratory water birds frequent the park's lakes, especially in autumn.
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| Lassen Volcanic National Park |
Separately, in Lassen Volcanic National Park, it is worth highlighting the colored dunes, which look very surreal. Red and orange patches cover the hilly terrain, with small patches of green trees around the edges. And the blackness of the surrounding volcanic land accentuates their fiery hues.
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| Lassen Volcanic National Park |
Hiking trails cross the park, including a section of the Pacific Ridge National Scenic Trail that bisects the park from north to south. Cross-country skiing and car walking in the park are popular activities. The Loomis Museum displays exhibits and photographs of the geological and cultural history of the area.