Warner Valley Trailhead in Lassen National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is truly a gem of an area, located northwest of Lake Almanor and situated between Susanville and Redding in Northern California. Hiking in Lassen Volcanic National Park has all of the intrigue of a national park but the solitude and serenity of the wilderness, even at its main attractions. The hiking in Lassen has been rewarding, interesting, and awe-inspiring. And we were about to find out just how impressive the features near Warner Valley Trailhead were!

From our dispersed camp spot in Lassen National Forest near the Kohm Yah-mah-nee entrance in the southwest area of the national park we headed east past Chester to the Warner Valley Trailhead. Warner Valley Trailhead is an access point to the adventures and surprises that lie in the south central section of the park.

The trails in the Warner Valley area of the park that we were eager to check out were Boiling Springs Lake, Terminal Geyser, and Devil’s Kitchen.

Warner Valley Hiking Info

Directions: From the CA-36 in Chester, turn northeast onto Feather River Road. After a half mile, veer left onto CR-312. Continue for four miles, veer right to stay on CR-312 and follow signs for Drakesbad. You’ll follow this road for 12.5 miles with several miles being on a gravel road. After the 12.5 miles, note the sign for Warner Valley Trailhead on the left. All of the three trails begin here.

Road Conditions: The gravel road is well maintained and is suitable for most vehicles, though there are bumps, some ruts, and some steep areas. There is a sign stating that trailers are not advised.

Distance: Because of the proximity of the trails and their ease we combined all three trails for about a 10.3 mile roundtrip hike.

Note: All three trails share the first 0.3 miles of the trail before splitting. Boiling Springs Lake and Terminal Geyser share a trail entirely until the trail continues another 1.8 miles past Boiling Springs Lake to Terminal Geyser. From the intersection after the initial 0.3 miles, Devil’s Kitchen separates from the others and continues 2.4 more miles.

Distance Breakdown of Individual Trails:

• Boiling Springs Lake Trail: 1.8 miles roundtrip
• Terminal Geyser Trail: 5.8 miles roundtrip
• Devil’s Kitchen Trail: 4.2 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: The three trails are relatively easy hikes with only a few notable elevation changes. Combining the three trails makes for a mild but lengthy hike.

Trailhead Amenities: clean vault toilets, a water spigot and several picnic tables

Our Experience Hiking From Warner Valley Trailhead

From the Warner Valley trailhead, the trail gently descended through the woods to a boardwalk through a marshy area. The vegetation was lush and the valley views were nice from here.

After about 0.3 miles we reached the signed intersection separating Boiling Springs Lake and Terminal Geyser from Devil’s Kitchen. We decided to go left here towards Boiling Springs Lake first.

The trail left the valley and led us a short distance through the woods. Before we knew it we were mesmerized by the huge milky mint green blue color of the steaming lake before us! The color was so unique and the sight of a 125 degrees steaming lake was so beautifully unusual!

We followed the trail counter clockwise around Boiling Springs Lake, taking it in from the different vantage points that revealed more of the lakes features.

The area that surrounded Boiling Springs Lake was very intriguing too with its own steaming and bubbling features. There is a trail circumnavigating the lake but we followed the path on the right to the junction with Terminal Geyser Trail, saving the other side of the lake for the way back.

Heading to Terminal Geyser

Terminal Geyser Trail continued 1.5 mellow miles through the woods. Once we got close to Terminal Geyser we could see the white cloud of steam through the trees. To get to Terminal Geyser, the trail descended somewhat steeply before it wrapped back around.

And there it was! It looked like a giant cloud maker! Terminal Geyser is not an actual geyser but is instead the result of a stream flowing over a steam vent.

The steam flow was constant and the direction of the steam was affected by the wind. We also noticed some smaller steam vents among the mud and volcanic rocks. The stream near the trail was hot! It was a very cool sight to see and we had it all to ourselves!

From Terminal Geyer we followed the trail back to Boiling Springs Lake where we had lunch with a view of Mt. Lassen jutting out of the forested abyss beyond the lake. Then we finished the entirety of the loop around Boiling Springs Lake and picked the trail back up towards the intersection near where we began. This time we turned left to go to Devil’s Kitchen.

The Trail to Devil’s Kitchen

The trail crossed a bridge and several cute boardwalks as we traversed the meadow before it led into the forest.

We really enjoyed this section of woods! The trail itself was mellow and there were so many fascinating trees! The size of them, their beautiful bark and the cool growth clusters kept us in awe.

Luckily the trail was easy here because we were very distracted and spent a lot of time looking up.

Up ahead, the trees broke up and we saw water and then the boardwalk. The anticipation was growing because we had no idea what to expect. Once on the boardwalk our eyes widened and our smiles broadened. There was so much to take in! We were captivated by the colors, the bubbling and steaming of the ground, and the other-worldliness of it all.

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The trail passed by mudpots, milky streams that flowed into Hot Springs Creek, unique colors and steam vents of all sizes.

All around us there was always something catching our eye! Bubbling mud, vibrant colors on the rocks, milky blue gray streams, the smell of the sulfur and humidity of the steam as it is reached us. We were surprised with how much of the trail was relatively up close and personal with the incredible volcanic features!

We enjoyed it so much that we walked the Devil’s Kitchen circuit twice. And once again, to our amazement, we had the whole circuit to ourselves! It was magical, beautiful, weird, and amazing!

After our second tour of Devil’s Kitchen and a hundred pictures later we headed back to Warner Valley Trailhead. On the way back we saw a couple of groups of deer as well as some other hikers.

What An Adventure!

Wow. Lassen Volcanic National Park has been an amazing experience so far! We have been left speechless numerous times and even giddy at times with the excitement of not only exploring somewhere we’ve never been before but seeing things that we have never even came across before! The volcanic features are not only unique and interesting but contrast so well with the already beautiful forests.

Stay tuned to see our further explorations of Lassen Volcanic National Park! And if you haven’t already, check out the adventures we’ve had in the park so far.

• Bumpass Hell + Cold Boiling Lake and Crumbaugh Lake
• Mill Creek Falls
• Hiking the Brokeoff Mountain Summit

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