California’s Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All-American Road

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All-American Road:

Entering south out of Oregon, into Plumas County, California at Lake Almanor, the home of a 1,308,000 acre foot lake formed by the Canyon Dam on the North Fork of the Feather River, where the Sierra Nevada Mountains meet the Cascades, the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All-American Road passes through the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, to the Lava Beds National Monument, around Mount Shasta that stands 14,179-feet tall, and is the second tallest volcano in the United States, as well as the largest volume stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, then past Black Butte, the McCloud River Falls, Lake Britton, the McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Sugarloaf Peak, Burney Mountain, around Lassen Peak, through the Lassen Volcanic National Park, and ends in the city of Weed, where a large totem pole marker can be found.

Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge:

Established in 1928, and found in northeast California’s Tule Lake Basin, the 39,116 acre Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge contains open waters surrounded by croplands that preserve and provide breeding grounds for a variety of wildlife including endangered Shortnose and Lost River Suckers, Canadian Geese, Bald Eagles, and several species of waterfowl.

Lava Beds National Monument:

This relatively unknown grassy prairie and wooded hills region National Register of Historic Places site, found on the Pacific Flyway, on the northeastern flank of the Medicine Lake volcano, possesses more than twenty-five lava tube caves, the highest concentration in North America, with developed trails for public exploration, cinder cones at Three Sisters, Hippo Butte, Crescent Butte, Juniper Butte, Eagle Nest Butte, Bearpaw Butte, Cinder Butte, and Schonchin Butte, as well as Valentine Cave, The Castles, Fleener Chimneys, Devil’s Homestead, Black Crater, the Gillem Bluff Lava Field, the Basalt of Hovey Point, containing the oldest lava flow of the Medicine Lake volcano, Captain Jack’s Stronghold, Petroglyph Point, one of the largest Native American Rock Art sites in the United States, The Big Crack at the northeastern boundary of the Lava Beds National Monument, and the 28,460-acre Lava Beds Wilderness Area that is the home of Bald Eagles and at least twenty-four species of hawks.

Medicine Lake Volcano:

Rising 3900 feet above the Modoc Plateau, a mile high area of juniper flats, pine forests, seasonal lakes, cinder cones, and lava flows, and covering more than 770 square miles, Medicine Lake Volcano stands 7795 feet tall and is the largest volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range. Medicine Lake Volcano is also the home of many Pleistocene vents, Medicine Lake, that can be found in its caldera, and Glass Mountain, a panaramic, almost treeless, steep volcanic glass lava flow with ten small domes.

Mount Shasta:

Standing 14,179 feet tall Mount Shasta, the second tallest volcano in the United States, is an extremely popularly climbed and backcountry skied stratovolcano, especially at Avalanche Gulch on the southwest side, Sargents Ridge, and Casaval Ridge. Mount Shasta also provides the Mud Creek and Whitney Glaciers, the Hidden Valley, and several hot sulfur springs near its summit.

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park:

Established as a National Natural Landmark in 1984, and the second oldest State Park in California, the McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park is most popular because of its 129-foot tall Burney Falls, that are regarded as one of the state’s most scenic waterfalls. Other popular recreational activities provided by the Park include watersports, hiking, camping, fishing, horseback riding, a Junior Rangers Program, and a variety of interactive, after dark, children’s shows.

Lassen Volcanic National Park:

The home of Lassen Peak, the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range, and the largest plug dome volcano in the world, the Lassen Volcanic National Park began in 1907 as the Lassen Peak National Monument and as the Cinder Cone National Monument. Lassen Peak is still active with fumaroles that release volcanic gases, boiling mudpots, and hydrothermal hot water springs. The Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the few places in the world where shield, plug dome, strato, and cinder cone volcanoes can be found. The Park also features the Drakesbad Guest Ranch Resort, Butte Lake, Juniper Lake, Willow Lake, access to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail and the Caribou Wilderness, fourteen permanent snowfields, and geyser hot springs.

Castle Crags:

Part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and found along the Siskiyou Pioneer Trail, this popular rock formation of towering crags and spires that were heavily eroded by glaciation during the Pleistocene Era Ice Age features the Castle Dome, the Castle Crags State Park, and the Castle Crags Wilderness area.

Trinity Alps:

Featuring the Scott and Salmon Mountains, and located within the Klamath Mountain Range, between the Cascade and Pacific Coast Mountains, the Trinity Alps are famous for their scenic beauty and alpine environment. The Trinity Alps also house an unusual phenomenon known as a temporary glacier above Mirror Lake, as well as Kalmia Lake, the snowiest location in the state of California, and an active glacier under Thompson Peak. The Trinity Alps Wilderness provides several popular hiking trails, backcountry camping opportunities, rockclimbing, especially on Caribou Peak and Sawtooth Ridge, the Canyon Creek Lakes, Sapphire Lake, Emerald Lake, Granite Lake, the Swift Creek Trail, Pony Buttes, Limestone Ridge, Horse Linto Creek, Packers Peak, Deadman Peak, Eagle Peak, Trinity Lake, Grizzly Lake, and is connected by the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail to the Russian, Marble Mountain, and Castle Crags Wildernesses.

Weed Historic Lumber Tour Museum:

The Weed Historic Lumber Tour Museum contains a collection of photographs and artifacts of the Northwest lumber town including two jail cells, a booking room, a kitchen, a sewing room, a bedroom, logging tools, a large bulldozer used to skid logs, a snag pusher used to fell trees, locomotives used to haul lumber in mill yards, train cars, a 1923 LaFrance fire truck, blacksmith tools, and a whiskey still.

Veterans Living Memorial Sculpture Garden:

Located on 136 acres, replanted with more than 10,000 trees, and found on the northwest slope of Mount Shasta the Veterans Living Memorial Sculpture Garden features several sculptures by reknown Artist Dennis Smith and a Hot LZ Memorial Wall tribute to United States military veterans.

Special Note:

For additional information about the Oregon section of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All-American Road see this Author’s Article entitled Oregon’s Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All-American Road at:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9090893/oregons_volcanic_legacy_scenic_byway.html

Sources:

This Article was compiled from several websites that provide much more information about California’s Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway including.

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?Id=81664
http://www.americansouthwest.net/california/lava_beds/national_monument.html
http://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm
http://www.siskiyou.edu/museum/about.htm
http://www.weedlmsg.org/03people0/aboutlmsg.html


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