The Cinder Cone Trail is another worthy hike at Lassen.
The trail is 4 miles long and starts from the Butte Lake Campground
located at the far northeast corner of the park. To get there we had to
drive out of the park and back in on a dirt road. The first 2 miles of the
hike are flat, going through forest area but the last half mile includes an
fairly steep 800 feet ascension of the cone itself. This last half mile is
not the most pleasant part of the hike, since the cone is made of pure
gravel and you'll be making one step forward followed by two involuntary
steps back. But seeing the bare volcanic landscape is worth the effort.
