Page 705 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

NOR THERN C ALIFORNIA  703

Bunyan and his faithful ox, Babe v Lassen Volcanic
(see p417). The park’s main National Park
attraction is the world’s tallest
tree, a 368-ft (112-m) giant, @ Chester, Red Bluff. Visitor Center:
Tel (530) 595-4444. Open daily.
standing in the Tall Trees Grove. ∑ nps.gov
Farther south is Big Lagoon,
a freshwater lake stretching for Before the eruption of Mount
3 miles (5 km) and two other St. Helens in Washington in
estuaries. Together, they form 1980 (see p617), the 10,457-ft-
the Humboldt Lagoons State (3,187-m-) high Lassen Peak
Park. The headlands at Patrick’s was the last volcano to erupt
Point State Park, at the southern on mainland US. In nearly 300
end, are a good place to eruptions between 1914 and
watch for migrating gray whales 1917, it laid 100,000 acres
in winter. (40,500 ha) of the surrounding
land to waste.
Lassen Peak is considered to
z Weaverville Mount Shasta, towering over the town of be still active. Numerous areas
Shasta below on its flanks show clear signs of
* 3,500. ~ n 215 Main St, (800)
487-4648. ∑ trinitycounty.com the geological pro cesses. The
such as mountaineers. At its boardwalk trail of Bumpass Hell
This small rural town has changed foothills lies the picturesque (named for an early guide, who
little since it was founded by town of Shasta, which was once lost his leg in a boiling mudpot
gold prospectors 150 years ago. one of the state’s largest gold- in 1865) leads past a series of
The Jake Jackson Museum, mining camps. Today, Shasta steaming sulfurous pools of
in the heart of the small makes a welcome base, with boiling water, heated by molten
commercial district, traces plenty of good places to stay. rock deep underground. In
the history of the town and its summer, visitors can take the
surrounding gold-mining and winding road through the park,
lumber region. Next door, the c Lava Beds climbing more than 8,500 ft
Joss House State Historic Site is National (2,590 m) high to Summit Lake.
the country’s oldest and best- Monument The road continues winding its
preserved Chinese temple. Built way through the so-called
in 1874, it is a reminder of the Tel (530) 667-2282. @ Klamath Falls. Devastated Area, a bleak gray
many Chinese immigrants who n Open daily. ∑ nps.gov landscape, which terminates
came to the US to mine gold, at the Manzanita Lake, and the
and stayed on as cheap labor Spreading over 46,500 acres Loomis Museum.
to build the California railroads. (18,800 ha) of the Modoc Plateau,
North of Weaverville, the this eerie landscape of lava flows E Loomis Museum
Trinity Alps rise up at the center has over 200 caves and lava Lassen Park Rd, N Entrance. Tel (530)
of beautiful mountain wilder- tubes – those cylindrical tunnels 595-6140. Open May 27–Oct 31:
ness. The mountains are created by exposed lava turning 9am–5pm daily.
popular with hikers and back- to stone. Most of the volcanic
packers in summer and with caves lie near the visitor center,
cross-country skiers during the where visitors can take ranger-
winter months. led or self-guided tours down
into the caves. To visit any of the
caves, wear sturdy shoes, carry
x Mount Shasta a flashlight, and check first with
the visitor center.
£ Dunsmuir. @ Siskiyou, Shasta.
Visitor Center: 300 Pine S. Tel (530) The park is also notable as
926-4865, (800) 926-4865. Open daily. the site of the 1872–73 Modoc
∑ mtshastachamber.com War, one of the many conflicts
between the US and the Native
At a height of 14,162 ft (4,316 m), Americans. For six months a
Mount Shasta is the second group of the Modoc tribe,
highest of the Cascade Moun- under the command of “Captain
tains, after Mount Rainier in Jack,” evaded the US Cavalry from
Washington (see pp614–15). a natural fortress of passage-
Visible more than 100 miles ways along the park’s northern
(160 km) away and usually border. The captain was
covered with snow, the summit eventually hanged, and the rest
is a popular destination for were forced into a reservation Sulfur springs in Lassen Volcanic
adventure sports enthusiasts in what is now Oklahoma. National Park

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