Lava Beds National Monument, located near Tule Lake in the remote Northeast corner of Siskiyou county, is a unique look at the tunnels, rugged landscape, and impressive geologic features left by a volcano, as well as a look at the history of the original residents of the area, the Modoc people and their ancient ancestors.
The park provides a rare opportunity for amateur speulunkers of all experience levels, as well as a variety of hiking and camping opportunities in the arrid terrain. Highlights range from physically challenging expeditions to easily accessable roadside attractions, and the nearby Tule and Lower Klamath Lakes offer spectacular birdwatching.
Lava Beds is located about three hours from Mt. Shasta and about an hour from Klamath Falls. From I-5 take Highway 97 East from Weed, then turn onto State Highway 161 just after Dorris and follow it to the town of Tulelake. From Klamath Falls, take 39 South to Tule Lake.
The drive offers a number of spectacular views of the East side of Mt. Shasta, and if you are coming from the West also be sure to leave time for at least a brief stop along the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge to enjoy the scenic marshes and flocks of birds.
There are two easily accessible entrances to the park: Hill Road and Great Northern Road. Hill Road is a straight, smoothly paved road that runs due South of Merril off of State Highway 161, and is the most direct route to the caves. Great Northern Road runs South from State Highway 139 just past Tulelake, and takes you past the Petroglyph Section, Captain Jack's Stronghold, as well as Tule Lake itself for those interested in birdwatching.
Almost all the attractions within the park lie along it's main road, which is straight, paved, and well-maintained, mostly with speed limits of 45mph, so travel within the park is easy. most of the side roads are similar, with the exception of the road leading to Mammoth Crater, which is relatively steep and gravel.
There is a Southwest entrance to the park, but this road is steep and unpaved, and is best avoided.
The park visitor center offers a gift shop and restrooms, and there are also restrooms located near the major roadside attractions, but there is no food or gas available within the park. Packing a lunch is highly recommended; there is a picnic area near the visitor center as well as a variety of scenic spots to sit and eat throughout the park.
Tulelake, less than 30 minutes away, has a gas station and a convenience store with single-grade unleaded and diesel fuel, as well as a couple of restaurants; all are located off the highway so are easy to miss--make sure you turn off and drive through town.
Dorris, a little more than an hour East, is a small town along Highway 97 offering several gas stations, two motels, and both cafe and sit-down restaurants, including a nice pizzeria that is open late seven days a week. This would be a good option for dinner if you leave the park after dark and are heading back toward I-5.
Although farther away, the Mt. Shasta/Weed area along I-5 is popular resort destination, and as such has a wide range of lodging and restaurants available.
Due to its altitude, Lava Beds is best visited in the summer or early fall; snowfall begins as early as October, and many local roads are closed during the winter. It can get hot (80s) during the dead of summer, also when the park is most crowded, so if possible the best time to visit is in September when the weather has begun to cool (mid-70s) and traffic is at a minimum.
For those unable to undertake more strenuous activities or with a limited amount of time, Lava Beds offers a decent selection of interesting attractions near its main road.
The Petroglyph Section is located at the base of a dramatic monolith (once an island in Tule Lake) just outside the East entrance to the park at the end of a very short gravel road. It features rock carvings left by the ancient residents of the area (as well as some modern "additions") somewhere between 2000-4500 years ago. The semi-abstract carvings are not dramatic (though the cliff base is), but should be a worthwhile stop to those with an interest in history. Interpretive signs and brochures at a kiosk in the parking area provide information and a self-guided tour, and there are also restrooms. The walk along the cliff base is flat and should only take 10-15 minutes unless you want to spend longer examining the artwork (and note that the most interesting carvings are located well to the right, away from the parking area). When leaving, be careful to get back on the park road; it is easy to take a wrong turn onto Rim Road.
Captain Jack's Stronghold is located along the road about halfway between the Northwest and Northeast entrances to the park. It was the location of a standoff between a small group of Modoc people and the US Army, who were attempting to remove the native residents to make way for settlers. The small group held off an army 20 times their number for several months thanks to this sort of natural castle made up of rugged volcanic rock.
Though the Stronghold does not look like much more than a pile of rocks from the parking area, a walk along the trail reveals a variety of crevices, small caves, lookout points, and protected walkways that provided defense and shelter for the Modoc holdouts. Interpretive signs and brochures will take you through a relatively short self-guided tour, although be prepared for relatively rough terrain--the trail weaves through the outcroppings and is very rocky. The short trail covers the most interesting locations in about 30 minutes (longer if you need to walk slowly over the rocky terrain), while a longer route adds up to an hour for those on a more leisurely schedule.
Devil's Homestead, which you will pass on the way to the visitor center, is an impressive wasteland of volcanic rubble left by the volcano. The parking area sits on a cliff above it, and offers an impressive view and photo opportunity.
Mushpot Cave offers both a nice introduction to the caves of the park for those looking to spend more time in them, and a quick experience for those who just want a peek and aren't up to any serious caving. Located just South of the Visitor Center, it is accessible both from a short trail behind the Visitor Center (which includes some interesting interpretive signs about volcanic rock and the park's plant life), or directly from a parking area along the main road just past the Visitor Center. The cave itself is quite short and requires no climbing and a minimum of ducking, and has a lit walkway and signs explaining the distinctive features of the park's many caves. Flashlights aren't necessary in this cave, but if you want one they can be checked out from the Visitor Center for free during open hours.
Mammoth Crater requires a little bit of extra driving, about 10 minutes up a relatively steep gravel road near the Visitor Center (the turn is not well marked so be careful not to miss it), but the payoff is a spectacular view from the rim of the extinct volcano that created the park's distinctive features. The viewpoint is located just off the small parking area, and though the huge hole is not photogenic it is an impressive view. The equally aptly named Hidden Valley is a steep, rocky valley located just across the road from the Crater, and the easy trail along it's edge might be worth a 10-minute afternoon stroll through the trees.
The Visitor Center itself offers information on the geologic features of the park and a few souvenirs. For those intending to do some caving, this is where free caving lights are available (be sure to have them back by 4:30, though) as well as inexpensive souvenir "bump hats" which, though 'not intended for protection', are still enough to save you a painful lump on your head for the cost of a few dollars and wearing a silly looking cheap plastic helmet.
The lava tunnels are unquestionably the park's main attraction, and provide something of a unique opportunity, as in all but a few the exploration is completely self-guided; though a few caves have ladders or stairs to help with steep descents, none are lighted and almost all are completely open to exploration as deep as you want to push. The going is generally quite easy, as the process that created the caves left most of the tidy tubes with a nice, rounded celling and hard, relatively flat floor, but if you are so inclined you needn't stop when the celling gets low, and there are plenty of tight tubes and forks in the road to crawl through and explore. Most of the caves do not have too many branches, but it is possible to get a little lost if you aren't careful (there are no signs or maps), and people who are at all claustrophobic are probably better off avoiding all but the simplest caves.
A few of the caves are highlighted here, but remember in all cases that you must bring a flashlight (and even if you use the park's free lamps, you should have a couple of backup flashlights of your own, in case something breaks--it is pitch black underground), and you probably want at least one of the inexpensive bump hats sold at the visitor center to protect your head, if not something more sturdy. If you plan on doing more than just ducking through low spots, you'd also best bring tough, expendable clothes, as the surfaces are very rough. The temperatures underground are cool year-round, but you should be walking around enough to warm yourself up after a while.
Mushpot, as described above, is accessible and lighted, but provides a warm-up, as well as an introduction to the features inside the caves, so is worth a quick look while you're at the visitor center.
Skull Cave is the must-see cave. One of the park's two ice caves, Skull is so named for the huge pile of bones found there long ago, and is located at the end of a paved side-road near the Visitor Center. It is worth seeing on account of its scale; it is huge, with an mouth several stories high, and after traversing the cavernous, rocky entrance tunnel several flights of of steep metal stairs bring you to its lower floor, which is covered with ice year-round. Less than 30 minutes will provide a memorable experience, and the stairs can even be skipped for those not up to the strenuous climb, as the entrance is more impressive than the ice. Merrill Ice Cave, however, is far less memorable aside from an equally steep decent, as most of its ice has apparently leaked out the bottom.
Sentinel is a great stop for those with a little more time; its two entrances can be found along the Cave Loop road that begins and ends at the Visitor Center. One of the few one-way caves, Sentinel has two entrances so you don't have to backtrack to get out, and the path is both well marked and includes walkways and stairs for rougher parts; little if any ducking is required. This cave is near the surface, and features rugged, rocky interiors, some large rooms, as well as features such as natural bridges and holes to the surface. The cave can be walked from one end to the other by most (Upper to Lower entrance will be an easier walk) in 20-30 minutes, and the walk back on the surface is very short. Also look for a large natural bridge just outside the Upper entrance.
Valentine offers a slightly more raw spelunking experience without too much work; located a few miles beyond the Visitor Center along the main road, it is a clean, smooth-walled tunnel with a flat floor, relatively high ceilings (the tube is mostly 6-8 feet in diameter), and an obvious main tunnel so there's no risk of loosing your bearings. There are no man-made additions inside, but none are necessary. You'll be able to get to a point at which it's too low to continue without crawling in under a half hour.
The Catacombs are a good choice for those looking to do a little more serious caving. Similar to Valentine in construction, the tunnel is smooth and relatively flat, but there are a number of different passages to take, and though between 30 minutes and an hour could probably be spent without leaving the relatively high-ceilinged areas, tighter spots lead to hundreds of yards of tunnels for those willing to crawl their way in deeper. The rewards are a variety of interesting volcanic rock formations and twisting passageways, but the main reason for exploring this and most other caves in the park is for the experience itself.
Cave Loop offers a variety of other caves for those wishing to spend more time underground in the park, and there are additional caves located along the main road as well as throughout the wilder interior areas of the park.
The park is crisscrossed with trails that cut across the rugged, shrub- and rock-covered terrain, with trails of length from an hour to all-day hikes. Camping areas are also available for those wishing to spend more time here, and in fact, as access to the caves is completely unrestricted (except for the occasional closure to allow the native bats to breed unfettered), you can even do some after-dark caving if you so desire (it is, after all, just as dark underground regardless of the time of day, and the temperature is also constant). Hiking highlights include Schonchin Butte, a large dome-shaped hill in the center of the park with panoramic views, and hikes to the top of the cliffs along the park's West edge.
The most notable nearby attraction, just to the North, are the vast marshy Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake and the birdwatching opportunities they provide. Depending on the season, huge flocks of migrating birds can be seen from any of the number of vista points along the roads near the park, and even if you're not an avid birdwatcher a quick stop along Lower Klamath Lake is worth the time.
Farther to the north is Klamath Falls, a popular destination, and to the West is Mt. Shasta.
After staying at one of the many attractive hotels in the Mt. Shasta area, get an early start and head for Lava Beds (but make sure to hit one of the supermarkets to get a picnic lunch). Depending on how early you leave, you might stop in Dorris for breakfast on the way, and you'll definitely want to stop to snap a photo or two of Mt. Shasta's East side. Enjoy the wildlife as you drive along 161, and maybe pull over for a few minutes to just listen to the birds. The roads in this area, though 2-lane, are all flat and straight, so you can expect to make very good time.
If need be, you can gas up in Tule Lake, then head for the Northeast entrance of the park so you can stop by the Petroglyph Section on your way in. Spend a few minutes there, then head on to Captain Jacks's Stronghold, where you'll want to stick to the short trail since you've got a lot to do. Make another brief stop at the Devil's Homestead to take in the view, then head for the Visitor Center to pay the registration fee and have lunch in the picnic area (or just stay in the parking lot and enjoy the view from there).
Next, it's time for some caving, so grab a light from the Visitor Center, buy a bump hat, and walk over to Mushpot to get warmed up. Next, drive or walk on up to Sentinel, on cave loop, and enjoy a stroll through. If you're feeling more ambitious at this point and have time, you may want to head to Valentine or one of the other caves for some more serious spelunking. Otherwise drive over to Skull Cave to take in the sights while you've still got use of the park's lantern (or, if you're pressed for time, return the lantern and hit Skull Cave on your way out before it gets dark).
Finally, if there's enough daylight after you return the lantern, drive up to Mammoth Crater for a look at what created the whole thing. You should get some pleasant sunset views on the way out of the park, and if you're heading back to I-5 you can grab dinner at the friendly local pizza parlor in Dorris (they've also got pool tables, a big screen TV, gourmet ice cream, and even a bar, if you're looking to relax a little extra).
***