Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake, and Redwoods

August 1, 2025

Tyler and I went on an epic Northern California + Oregon road trip! Over the course of 9 days, we traveled along this route, camping and hiking along the way!

Days 0-1

We started the trip by driving from San Francisco to Auburn, CA (a bit past Sacramento). We spent the night, and got up early to go on a guided whitewater rafting trip on the Middle Fork of the American River! It was quite fun, but unfortunately no photos since we didn’t bring any phones/cameras along.

Days 2-3 - Lassen Volcanic NP

The first national park of the trip was Lassen Volcanic. On the first day there, we stopped by two of the hydrothermal areas, Sulphur Works and Bumpass Hell, and saw some cool mud pots, steam vents, and hot springs.

Steam vents and hydrothermal springs at Bumpass Hell

We stopped at Helen Lake for lunch, and got some good views of Lassen Peak. Then we stopped at Kings Creek Meadow.

Meadow with Lassen Peak in the background, and tadpoles in the stream

Then we set up camp at Manzanita Lake Campground!

The next day, we hiked up the Cinder Cone, which was moderately difficult due to being a sandy (cinders, actually) and steep trail.

Us at the top of Cinder Cone, and looking down at the Painted Dunes

Day 4 - Mt Shasta Area

On day 4, we left Lassen and started driving north. Along the way, our first stop was at Subway Cave, a cool lava tube cave.

Exploring Subway Cave. Ariel is petting a baby volcano.

The second stop of the day was at Burney Falls, a really beautiful waterfall!

At the bottom of the falls, and some deer in the river

Next, we continued up to Mount Shasta. We got some lunch in town, and then went to the shores of Lake Siskiyou to relax.

Lake Siskiyou with Mount Shasta in the background

Finally, we finished the day by driving to Crater Lake to camp for the night.

Day 5 - Crater Lake NP

We started by going to the visitor center on the south side of the lake. There were some interesting exhibits on the lookout point over the lake about the history and geology of the lake.

Next, we drove along the rim road, stopping at a few more lookout points along the way.

When we reached the north side of the lake, we hiked down the Cleetwood Cove trail to the lake shore. At the bottom of the trail, we hung out for a while reading books and taking a brief dip into the cold lake water. We really enjoyed the vibrant blue water of the lake, which comes from its clarity and deepness.

In the late afternoon, we left Crater Lake and drove west to Redwoods to camp.

Day 6 - Redwoods NP

In Redwoods, we drove along the Howland Hill scenic drive, a narrow road that winds through the redwood forest. We stopped for a couple short hikes: the Grove of Titans and Stout Grove.

A cool fallen tree trunk and interesting bark patterns

Afterwards, we stopped by the Battery Point lighthouse in Crescent City (California’s northernmost lighthouse!) on the way back to camp.

Days 7-9 Lost Coast Trail

On day 7, we woke up early to pack up camp and drove down the coast to Shelter Cove, for 3 days backpacking on the Lost Coast Trail. Read more about it in the next post, The Lost Coast Trail!

After that, we concluded the trip by driving home to San Francisco.

Food

I was excited to try out some camp cooking on this trip! On most other trips, I have only brought a small backpacking stove and made very simple meals. Here’s what we cooked, it was all very tasty!

Breakfast: