Manzanita Lake is the postcard of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and on a calm morning the reflection is hard to ignore. The water is shallow and still, edged with reeds and conifers, and the pale cone of Lassen Peak sits upside down in it, flanked by the broken crags of Chaos Crags. A flat path loops the lake, and the northwest entrance station is only a short distance away. Most people come early in the day for the still air and soft light, and the mirror-like surface.
The odd name for the crags is deserved. Around three hundred years ago, a series of lava domes collapsed, sending avalanches of rock racing down the slope and across the land below. The debris field, known as the Chaos Jumbles, is a jumble of boulders scattered in a wide fan, now covered in sparse forest. It is a reminder that the volcanic story here is far from over, and the park lies on a restless part of the Cascade range.
The historic Loomis Museum, a stone building beside the lake, is named after a local photographer who recorded the 1914 to 1917 eruptions of Lassen Peak, and his images are among the best records of the event. A small ranger station and cabins by the lake keep the place feeling like a classic national park of the early twentieth century, with a camp store that opens in the season.
As a rider, this is the finish of a long and beautiful day, and the road north of the park runs downhill through ponderosa pine and open woods, in sweeping descents and relaxed bends. The air at this elevation, about fifty-eight hundred feet, is clear and dry, and evenings are cool. Services are limited, so fuel should be bought outside, at Shingletown or at Chester, both a good distance away, and it is wise to leave the park with a full tank. Summer weekends can be busy, and the best moments are in September, when the crowds have gone and the light turns golden. Bears live in the park, so store food carefully, and keep a sharp eye out for deer at dawn and dusk.