Since moving to the PNW we've earmarked the third weekend in June as our Oregon weekend. And after a bit of a hiatus in visiting new National Parks, we decided to take a road trip down to Crater Lake and Lassen Volcanic National Parks - the last of our "in driving range" and yet to visit National Parks.
After obtaining a lottery night at the Crater Lake Lodge, we decided to car camp at Lassen Volcanic for two nights and then break up the drive home with a random Oregon camping destination. However the weather had different plans for us. Our two nights camping in Lassen were cancelled by the camp host due to weather (cold & snow) and down trees, so we decided to stay near Lassen (Redding, CA) for one night instead of two. After switching our plans we were fortunate to find a second night at Crater Lake, but later learned that the next days weather forecast was a high of 35 degrees and snowing (ugg) and with many of the mountain ranges being above average snow fall this year, all of the trails near the lodge were closed.
This led to a quick pivot with one night in Crater Lake, a quick jaunt over to Redwoods and then back over to Lassen Volcanic - with the weather and limited access to trails and park roads our pivot (other than the now 1500 mile round trip distance) worked out quite nicely. We were able to find an amazing campground called Big Lagoon on Redwoods Hwy right on the ocean! Going from snow and mountains to towering trees and beaches in one day.
We definitely short changed our time in Lassen as it seemed quite diverse and perhaps a hidden gem amongst the NPS, though we were able to collect our stamp and our traditional park entrance photo, we will have to come back to another time.
Until next time, Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute
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