Self-Guided Field Trips

a boy faces the camera and lifts his arms over his head in excitement at the cinder cone behind him — How will you share Lassen's wild classroom with your students?
NPS photo

Bring your class to Lassen’s wild classroom! While we love sharing the experience with you, we also understand you may have your own needs or schedules beyond what we can offer. This webpage offers suggested self-guided field trips to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Please feel free to reach out to park education rangers with additional questions: e-mail us.

Required Reading

Education groups may qualify for an Academic Fee Waiver.

Review our Teacher Pre-Visit Planning Guide so you know what to expect and our expectations of you and your group!

Suggested Activities

Visitor Centers & Park Information

Use the exhibits at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center (year-round) and Loomis Museum (open seasonally) to introduce your students to Lassen. The visitor centers also
offer park information, restrooms and water, and park stores.

Interpretive Waysides

Wayside exhibits that interpret park resources are found throughout the park including along the park highway, on the Lassen Peak trail, on the Bumpass Hell boardwalk, and along the Devastated Area Trail.

Lily Pond Nature Trail

Lead your students on an easy one-mile loop trail along lake shores, forest edges, and through a portion of the rock avalanche area called Chaos Jumbles. Stakes along the trail correspond to numbered paragraphs that explain points of interest and natural features. Guides can be obtained at the trailhead across the highway from the Loomis Museum.

Cinder Cone

Lead your students on this moderate four-mile round-trip hike to Cinder Cone volcano. Numbered posts correspond to stops in an informative leaflet. Guides can be obtained at the trailhead in the Butte Lake day use parking area.