warner valley trailhead

I go camping and fishing once per year and stay in Warner Valley which is on the side of Mt. Lassen. Lassen is a volcano with Warner Valley and Traihead on it's south side, about a 20-30 minute drive from the closest town of Chester. Chester is next to a large lake, Lake Almanor. Great lake for swimming, fishing and boating. The ride to Warner Valley is on a two lane road that winds through a pine forest and crosses over many streams which run down Mt. Lassen. I fish for both rainbow and brown trout here. On the mountain, I see a lot of deer, bald eagle, fox, rabbits, turkey vultures, bats and coyote. Within the last year my friends have also seen a black bear, bobcat and mountain lion. At the top of Mt. Lassen , which is snow capped, are boiling mud pots and fantastic views. This is around 10,000 feet up. There are several small extremely clear lakes up here with beautiful scenery but you can only get here during the summer months due to the snow. In some years, we couldn't get up here until the middle of July.The back side of the mountain is also great with hot springs, a boiling lake with swirling gases, horseback riding, hiking, meadows filled with flowers, boating and great camping. Warner Valley and trailhead, however, are more convenient for camping due to it's relative proximity to the town of Chester which has a supermarket and restaurants. Warner Valley and all of the Mt. Lassen is just spectacular !

Warner Valley is a 30-minute ride (17 miles) from Chester and is located in the southern section of the park. The only access is from Chester. If pressed for time this would be a great half-day adventure, as the two main attractions are not long hikes. The last 3 miles is a gravel road that our rental car made rather easily. The Drakesbad Lodge is at the end of the road, but there is a parking lot a quarter mile short of the lodge on the left.Our goal was to see Boiling Springs Lake and Devil's Kitchen. The best parts of these thermal attractions were the lack of crowds. After being in Yellowstone last year and Bumpass Hell the day before, it was a pleasure to have most of the area to ourselves. The two hikes took us about 4 hours, but we took our time to enjoy the atmosphere. All the trails here begin near the Drakesbad. Trails here also extend to other parts of the parkBoiling Springs Lake was unique and something different. Don't see many lakes that have a water temp of 125. There are great shots of Lassen Peak over the lake from the other side. The trail makes a loop around before backtracking toward the Drakesbad. It was a couple miles getting to Devil's Kitchen through a meadow and then the woods. We only saw a couple other people here. Well worth the effort heading up to Warner Valley.