Lassen Volcano and Redwoods Question.
 

I had two airline tickets that were about to expire, so I am taking my 11 year old nephew with me on this trip. He hasn't been to a National Park before. We will have two days at Lassen staying at Drakesbad for two nights. We will have all day Fri and Sat- July 23 and 24 at Lassen. On Sunday 25th, we will drive to Redwoods and probably see Burney Falls on the way. This will allow a little more time at Lassen or we could make it early to the redwoods and see something there. We are staying at Sea Cliff motel near Trinidad while at Redwoods.

My main question about the Redwoods is where to try and tidepool at. A ranger suggested Palmer Point at Patrick's Point State Park. This is only about 5 or 6 miles from our hotel. If I am reading the tide tables correctly, low tide will occur @ 6:30 on Mon July 26th. I would like to tidepool, see some tree of course, see elk. We are fairly close to Prairie Creek. Which area for the trees to we want to see? Any other thoughts on tidepooling?

My question for Lassen is which hydrothermal area's do I want to see.
I was considering. Bumpass Trail, Devils Kitchen, Terminal Geyser(a ranger told me this one was just ok), Boiling Springs, and Sulphur Works. I was considering hiking to one of the peaks. Either Cinder Cone, Brokeoff Mountain, or Lassen Peak. Considering hiking reflection lake one morning . I was also considering hiking Paradise Meadows, as the wildflowers there are supposed to be good. Noone could tell me when peak viewing would be for this year or previous years. Any thought on Lassen would be appreciated.

Oh, and we will hike Fern Canyon at the Redwoods.

Anyone?

Fern Canyon is beautiful - and one of my friends saw a HUGE bull elk there - plus a bear.

I don't know about tidepooling for sure but Patrick Point sounds likely- we did a nice walk there , trail down the hill towards the ocean, beautiful wild flowers and whales cavorting down below.
There were several spots where elk just seem to hang out so really many opportunities to see them.

We ate at a cute restaurant in Trinidad- but have to find the name - will let you know!

For Lassen, I'd defintely check out Sulfur Works and Bumpass Hell. Sulfur Works is right on the main park road, so definitely easy to see. Bumpass Hell requires a hike, but it is easy. You can take the shorter trail which comes at the area from the north, but is more busy. Or you can take the longer trail that starts at the Kings Creek picnic area and passes by Cold Boiling Lake. There will be fewer people on this route. There is a good park map on the NPS web site - you'll see what I am talking about.

Cold Boiling Lake should be interesting in July - we went over Labor Day weekend and there wasn't much water. It was more like Cold Boiling Mucky Stuff.

Summit Lake is nice for some swimming - there is a sandy beach on the north side of the lake. It is pretty shallow, so the water is reasonably warm.

Lake Helen is also good for swimming, but because it is a glacial lake, it is really rocky. I think there are a couple ok beaches, but as long as you have grippy water shoes, it is fun to wade in along the rocks.

I haven't climbed any of the peaks - we were supposed to climb Lassen last summer, but the trail was out. We are going to try again in August.

Drakesbad is a great old, rustic guest ranch but it's a long way from the sights in Lassen National Park. When we stayed there, we spent our one full day enjoying the great hot mineral pool and hiking out to Boiling Lake and Terminal Geyser. This is a place to enjoy rather than use as a motel room while you go out for the day. You seem to have an ambitious list of things you want to do at Lassen. I would consider adding a couple more days if you want to accomplish them.

From Drakesbad to Trinidad, it's a long drive. More than 5 hours. If you try to take in Burney Falls, you need to add about three hours since you have to drive through Lassen Park and then allow some time to see the falls. This will not leave you much time to spend in Lassen on Sunday.

I can't add anymore time. My list is a bit much. I was basically just gonna see one or two thermal areas, maybe hike Paradise or the hike to the waterfall there(blank on the name at the moment). Might hike to one of the peaks. I doubt I will get all this in, so I was needing a little guidance on which were the best thermal areas. It appears that Bumpass and Devils Kitchen might be the best, while sulphur doesn't require much effort to get to it. I was debating on Burney Falls as it is going to be out of the way. We will get up early each day and stay up late. We are both in great shape and nephew will probably sleeep a little in the car.

The place where we had dinner in Trinidad is Seascape Restaurant- on the water, nice views- not high end but good food