Admission to the park is $10 per vehicle.
You may be able to drive through the park without having to pay.
Sometimes if it is late there are may not be attendants present at the
park entrances. This $10 entrance fee is good for 7 days, just don't
lose your receipt. Pets are permitted in the park but only if they are
on a leash. They are not allowed on trails.
Lassen National Park has 7 campgrounds and all are above 5,650 feet. There are
over 150 miles of hiking trails in the park including a 17 mile stretch
of the Pacific Crest Trail. Note to rock climbers. Volcanic rock is
generally unsuitable for climbing. It is quite unstable and loose.
If you enter the park from the south side, 1 mile past the entrance you
will see a large parking lot and a small chalet. This used to be the
site of a vibrant, thriving ski resort. This used to be one of the most
affordable beautiful areas in California to ski.
Families from the
Redding/ Red Bluff/Chico area and beyond used to look forward to
spending some time together at this resort. The runs were not your
skilled ski or die double diamonds such as you have at Mammoth or Squaw,
or some of the other better known California ski resorts. They were
geared to those who wanted an affordable ski experience, in a beautiful
natural setting, without having to test the extreme limits of ones own
skiing ability. Alas this ski resort was removed due to an unfortunate
decision concerning the integrity of having a ski resort in a National
Park.
A new chalet is planned for the south entrance to the park and is
currently in the fund raising stage. The old chalet unfortunately has
been torn down and in its place is a pile of rubble. The new
Chalet will be open by Fall of 2008. Currently in the summer months a
temporary food/gift shop is open in the summit trail parking
lot.
Photo to the left is all that is left of the historical
Chalet by the end of summer 05
All that was left from the ski resort was the chalet. This
was an expensive
place to buy anything based upon the high cost of transporting food and
other items to this location. They did serve food in the summer months and they
had a nice selection of Lassen memorabilia. Ask about the Lassen Trail
Booklet, an informative guide to hiking the trails of Lassen Park. For
more information about the new Chalet that is being built click here:
www.nps.gov/lavo/sw_facility_overview.htm
One other interesting piece of history is that the last Stone age
survivor came from this park. His name was
Ishi, a Yahi Indian, and he
lived in the wild until 1911 until he could no longer survive and he
came out into civilization. At the time his tribe was thought to have
been extinct. He lived for the rest of his life at the ethnological
museum at the University of California Berkeley. Several books have been
written on his life, and a television historical documentary was made
about his life.
