Lassen Volcanic National Park

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lassen Volcanic National Park
View of Lassen Peak from Lake Helen
View of Lassen Peak from Lake Helen
Lassen Volcanic National Park (USA)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 40 ° 29 ′ 17.4 ″  N , 121 ° 30 ′ 18 ″  W.
Location: United States
Next city: Redding, California
Surface: 431.35 km²
Founding: August 9 , 1916
Visitors: 499,435 (2018)
Address: Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park map 2006.07.png
i3 i6

The Lassen Volcanic National Park is in Northern California situated National Park of the United States . The park is located in the northeastern part of what is now the state of California, about 200 kilometers from Sacramento . A special feature of the park is its volcanic landscape around Lassen Peak , which was last active between 1914 and 1921 , the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range . The 431 km² area was placed under protection in 1916 - in the wake of the increased public interest due to the eruption of the Lassen Peak - and has been administered by the National Park Service ever since .

In the area around Lassen Peak, the earth is still volcanically active, which can be seen in mud pots , hot springs and fumaroles . Lassen is one of the few areas in the world where four forms of volcanoes occur simultaneously: shield volcanoes , ash cones , lava domes and stratovolcanoes .

Today, Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the lesser known and visited national parks in the United States due to its remote location. Of the approximately 150 miles of hiking trails in the park, the trails on the edge of California State Route 89 to the summit of Lassen Peak and the hydrothermal vents of Bumpass Hell are mainly used. Since 2008, the Kohm Yah-mah-nee, a new visitor center at the southwest entrance of the park, has been open to tourists. The main season extends from June to September, as State Route 89, which runs through the park, is usually closed due to snow in the remaining months.

etymology

The name of the national park is derived from the Danish immigrant Peter Lassen (1800-1859), who is said to have climbed Lassen Peak (sometimes also: "Mount Lassen") as the first European. Lassen, a trained blacksmith, emigrated to the United States in 1830, moved to California ten years later, and in 1844 purchased large areas of land in what is now Tehama County . After the start of the California gold rush, Lassen opened up this upper part of California's long valley by exploring a new covered wagon route over the mountains. The naming of various places in Northern California is due to the fact that Lassen was the first European to permanently settle in this part of California. In addition to Lassen Peak and the National Park, Lassen National Forest is named after him. It can no longer be clarified today whether the first ascent of Lassen Peak, attributed to Lassen, took place. What is certain is that the volcano previously known as "San Jose", "Mount Joseph" or "Mount Saint Joseph" received its current name from the gold prospector Grover K. Godfrey in 1851 after an encounter with Peter Lassen. The first verifiably documented ascent of Lassen Peak was carried out by Godfrey himself.

geography

Road map of the region around the national park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range , a mountain range of volcanic origin that runs parallel to the west coast of North America and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire . The reserve covers an area of ​​more than 430 square kilometers and lies east of the upper Sacramento Valley , a heavily agricultural region of Northern California.

The two entrances to the park are connected by California State Route 89 , which runs through Lassen Volcanic National Park in a large loop around Lassen Peak. The northwest entrance to the park can be reached via California State Route 44 from the Redding transportation hub located on Interstate 5 . California State Route 36 leads from Red Bluff , also on Interstate 5, to the southwest entrance. From the university town of Chico , the same park entrance can be accessed via California State Route 32 and then California State Route 36. Visitors from Reno , Nevada (which can be reached through Reno-Tahoe Airport  ) can access the park's northwest entrance on California State Route 44 or the southwest entrance on California State Route 36 through the small town of Chester on Lake Almanor .

Map of the park with the five regions designated by the National Park Service

The national park administration divides the protected area into five different regions:

  • Manzanita & Summit Lakes in the northwestern part of the park has numerous facilities for visitors, including the Loomis Museum, as well as the largest campground in the park on the edge of Manzanita Lake, which also has a small shop attached. Hikers will reach the beginning of a trail to Summit Lake 20 kilometers south of Manzanita Lake.
  • Southwest, at the southwest entrance to the park, are Sulfur Works and Bumpass Hell, the most famous hydrothermal attractions of the park. In the visitor center Kohm Yah-mah-nee, exhibitions and a short film provide information for tourists. From a parking lot at the foot of Lassen Peak, the volcano can be climbed via the Lassen Peak Trail.
  • Warner Valley to the south offers other hydrothermal areas near the historic Drakesbad Guest Ranch such as Devils Kitchen, Boiling Springs Lake and Terminal Geyser.
  • Juniper Lake in the remote southeast is dominated by the largest lake in the park.
  • Butte Lake , known for the Fantastic Lava Beds block lava fields, the Painted Dunes, and the Cinder Cone ash cone . A part of the Nobles Emigrant Trail used by early settlers runs along the edge of the Fantastic Lava Beds .

history

Until the arrival of the white settlers

Before the arrival of white settlers, the area around Lassen Peak was inhabited by the Yahi , Yana , Atsugewi and Maidu tribes. Due to the harsh winters, they only came to the area of ​​today's national park in the summer months for hunting and fishing, as well as for collecting berries and nuts.

The region only played a subordinate role in the settlement of California by European immigrants. The covered wagon route through the area of ​​today's national park, first used by Peter Lassen in 1848, turned out to be too difficult and never achieved the importance of the Donnerpass and Carsonpass mountain passes further south in the Sierra Nevada . A route developed by William H. Nobles in the 1850s was used by a larger number of settlers than the Lassen Trail , but it also played a minor role compared to the passes of the Sierra Nevada and was eventually abandoned.

First explorations

Lake Helen, named after Helen Brodt, who was the first non-indigenous woman to climb Lassen Peak

In the course of the settlement of the Sacramento Valley , the interest in the southern cascade chain also increased. In 1863, the California Geological Survey sent an expedition led by William H. Brewer to what is now the national park, which provided initial results for an understanding of the area's volcanic origins. In August 1863, Helen Brodt became the first non-indigenous woman to climb Lassen Peak. Lake Helen at the foot of the volcano was later named after her.

In 1873, naturalist Harvey W. Harkness was the first to climb the Cinder Cone . From 1883 the geologist Joseph S. Diller explored the area of ​​today's national park on behalf of the United States Geological Survey . His forty years of work resulted in numerous papers and in the finding that Lassen Peak belongs to the southern cascade range and not to the Sierra Nevada.

The establishment of the national park

Poster from 1938

When lumberjacks, ranchers and railroad companies began to pose an increasing threat to the area of ​​what is now the national park at the beginning of the 20th century , the American President and early advocate for nature conservation Theodore Roosevelt ordered the establishment of the two national monuments, Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen, in May 1907 Peak National Monument .

Only seven years later, on May 30, 1914, Lassen Peak erupted. The event was followed with great interest by the public and brought journalists, photographers, scientists and onlookers to the reserve. After a series of smaller eruptions, an eruption occurred in May 1915 that was so strong that volcanic ash reached the city of Reno , around 240 kilometers southeast .

The volcanic eruptions generated such public interest that President Woodrow Wilson designated 79,561 acres (approximately 32,197 hectares) as a national park on August 9, 1916 . Just two weeks later, Wilson signed a law establishing the National Park Service , which has since been responsible for the administration and protection of national parks in the United States .

literature

  • Mike White: Lassen Volcanic National Park: Your Complete Hiking Guide , 5th edition, Birmingham, AL 2016, ISBN 978-0-89997-799-7

Web links

Commons : Lassen Volcanic National Park  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Remarks

  1. National Park Service: Annual Visitation Report by Years , last accessed November 30, 2019.
  2. ↑ On this and the following Mike White, Lassen Volcanic National Park: Your Complete Hiking Guide , 5th edition, Birmingham, AL 2016, p. 6.
  3. Lassen Volcanic Guide , ed. from the National Park Service, here in the issue "Summer / Fall 2020", p. 2.
  4. ↑ On this and the following cf. White, Lassen Volcanic National Park pp. 4-6.
  5. ↑ On this and the following cf. White, Lassen Volcanic National Park , pp. 6f.
  6. ↑ On this and the following cf. White, Lassen Volcanic National Park , pp. 8f.