Hike #4 – Summit Lakes Trail, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
Distance: 19.1 miles / Time Required: 2 days / Difficulty: Easy
Lassen is tucked between the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains, 160 miles straight north of Sacramento.
Pass sparkling alpine lakes on this easy weekend through volcanic high country.
Lassen Peak is the largest plug dome volcano in the world, and it marks where the Cascade volcano chain begins. This 10,457-foot hunk of extruded lava still burns: Hissing fumaroles and boiling mud pots ring its flanks.
But it’s water that marks this park’s marquee trip. You’ll hit eight forested pools on this 2-day, 19.1-mile lollipop in alpine terrain where the Sierra Nevada meets the Cascade Range. Even better: No crowds, because big-name neighbors (Shasta, Tahoe, and Yosemite) draw visitors away.
Route: From the Summit Lakes trailhead, immediately cross vibrant Dersch Meadows—a frequent grazing spot for mule deer—over a 100-foot-long boardwalk. Dive into white pine and red fir forest, veering left at 0.3 mile and skirting the North Summit Lake Campgrounds.
Walk 20 yards along the lake’s northeast edge, forking left at the next junction and beginning a steady 400-foot climb to another junction at mile 1.3 atop a plateau. Here, the left fork leads to the Cluster Lakes—currently inaccessible following 2012’s Reading Fire—so continue across the plateau and descend 250 feet over 0.6 mile, past azure Echo Lake.
In 1.4 miles, walk under the steep, forested slopes along Upper Twin Lake’s north shore, and then contour around the rocky southern shores of Lower Twin Lake. Hike east through currant and manzanita clusters and into thinning forest, alongside burnt stumps from a managed 2004 fire. At 5.2 miles, curl around Rainbow Lake, where you can see the forested slopes of 7,272-foot Fairfield Peak—one of Lassen’s three cinder cones— mirrored on calm waters.
