A Week in Mineral, California: Lassen Volcanic National Park, Thousands of Butterflies and the Realities of RV Travel

Overlook of the basin- you can see the boardwalk on the right
Thermal pools & fumaroles

Quick Links for Our Mineral and Lassen Stay

Sometimes a destination surprises you because it is better than you expected. Sometimes it surprises you because thousands of butterflies suddenly fill the road in front of your truck.

Our week in Mineral, California, managed to do both.

We came to Mineral primarily to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park. I knew Lassen had volcanic features, but I imagined a much more barren landscape—something closer to Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Instead, we found thick forests, mountain views, alpine lakes, purple wildflowers, bubbling mud pots and one of the most unusual butterfly experiences we have encountered during our travels.

Our stay also included four new truck tires, a brutally hot afternoon in Redding, a Spider-Man movie in Red Bluff, a strange jiu-jitsu drop-in experience, cold swims in Lake Helen and the kind of quiet campground community that cannot be listed under “amenities” on a reservation website.

It was not our most spectacular national park week, but it was memorable, relaxed and much better than we expected.

Staying in Mineral, California

We stayed at Volcano Country RV & Tent Camping, a modest campground in Mineral with approximately 20 RV sites.

This is not a resort-style campground. There was no pool, playground, organized dog park or long list of amenities. The campground had a bathhouse that we did not use and a laundry facility that remained closed during our stay.

The RV sites had full hookups, but only 30-amp electrical service. That was the campground’s biggest limitation for us. With a larger family RV, 30-amp power affects how many things we can run at once. We had to pay attention when using the air conditioners, dryer, oven and other appliances with a high electrical draw.

Our site was a large, level back-in site with plenty of shade. We paid approximately $280 for the week, which felt reasonable considering how close we were to Lassen.

Cell service worked at the campground. Starlink was more limited because of the trees, and managing our power usage also affected how we used everything. Eli was still able to work, but this would not be the easiest campground for someone who needs flawless connectivity and unlimited power.

What the campground lacked in amenities, it made up for in atmosphere.

The entire place had a welcoming, laid-back feeling. One woman who stays at the campground seasonally took a special interest in the kids and gave them painted postcards she had made. It was such a simple gesture, but those are the kinds of interactions that become part of how we remember a place.

There was no designated dog area, but Willie was able to spend some supervised time off leash in an open field with a few other friendly dogs. The campground felt relaxed enough for that to happen naturally.

Mineral itself is extremely small. There is a general store, lodge and café nearby, but not much else. The general store was better stocked than I expected, with some basic groceries, souvenirs and other merchandise, but I would not arrive expecting to complete a major grocery trip.

There are no large grocery stores, major gas stations or extensive services nearby. That lack of convenience is the primary downside to staying in Mineral.

The advantage is that you are very close to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

From our campground, we were approximately 15 minutes from the park entrance and around 30 minutes from the Bumpass Hell trailhead. That made it possible for us to enter the park after Eli finished work and enjoy just a few hours without needing to turn every visit into a full-day expedition.

Mineral was also consistently around 20 degrees cooler than Redding and the surrounding valley. When temperatures down in Redding were around 105 degrees, the higher elevations near Mineral and Lassen were often in the upper 70s or 80s.

That alone made Mineral worth considering in July.

Driving Through Thousands of California Tortoiseshell Butterflies

Before we even entered Lassen, Mineral gave us one of the most unexpected experiences of our trip.

As we arrived, we suddenly began driving through thousands of California tortoiseshell butterflies.

They were flying through the air, covering the road and appearing everywhere we looked. We continued seeing hundreds upon hundreds of them during our drives through Mineral and Lassen.

At first, the kids thought it was incredible. It was unusual and almost unbelievable to see so many butterflies gathered in one area.

Then they began noticing how many had been struck by vehicles.

The roads were covered with dead butterflies, and what initially felt exciting quickly became sad for them. There was no practical way to avoid every butterfly flying across the road, which made it a beautiful but also heartbreaking experience.

As often happens while traveling, it turned into an unexpected homeschool lesson. We spent time learning about California tortoiseshell butterflies, their movements and the population booms that can occasionally cause enormous numbers to appear in one area.

We went to Lassen expecting volcanoes. The butterflies became one of the parts the kids will probably remember most.

Our First Day in Lassen: Seeing the Bigger Picture

One thing that is important to know about the way I travel is that I like to understand the bigger picture before focusing on the details.

I do not always enjoy arriving somewhere and immediately choosing one trail without understanding how the entire place fits together. When time allows, I would rather see the full layout first, learn what makes the area significant and then decide where we want to spend more time.

Sometimes we do not have that luxury. We have to choose two hikes, hit the major overlooks and move on.

Because we were staying so close to Lassen and there was very little else to do in Mineral, we had time to explore the park gradually.

For our first visit, we decided to drive the full scenic road, visit the museums and visitor centers, stop at a few easy areas and get a feel for the park before committing to longer hikes.

We had downloaded the GuideAlong audio tour before entering the park, which made the scenic drive much more enjoyable.

We regularly use GuideAlong on longer scenic drives. The tour shares park history, geological information, trail recommendations and reminders about overlooks as you approach them. National parks are not always great about placing obvious signs before every worthwhile trailhead or scenic pullout, so the audio tour helps us notice things we might otherwise drive past.

It also allows us to learn without constantly stopping to read every sign or having one person research while everyone else enjoys the view.

The main road through Lassen is approximately 30 miles. Driving directly from one entrance to the other took us less than an hour without many stops. It is not a huge park, and the road was easy to drive. We did not find it excessively narrow, steep or intimidating, and there were no areas where I felt uncomfortable because of a lack of guardrails.

There were also plenty of bathrooms and picnic areas throughout the scenic drive. Even though the park has almost no cell service, we did not feel like we were completely isolated from basic facilities.

Cell service, however, was essentially nonexistent throughout the park.

The only places where we could reliably connect were the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center and the Loomis Museum, which offered free Wi-Fi. Before entering Lassen, visitors should download maps, the GuideAlong tour and anything else they may need.

We arrived later in the day after sleeping in. Eli had been getting up extremely early for work, and I have no shame about letting everyone sleep when we need it.

There was no entrance line and no significant problem finding parking. People were around, but Lassen never felt overwhelmingly crowded. It was one of the least congested national parks we had visited, although popular trailheads such as Bumpass Hell became busier during the middle of the day.

The Importance of Arriving With Fuel

We had made the mistake of entering the park low on gas.

Because there are so few services in Mineral and inside Lassen, we ended up driving all the way through the park to Manzanita Lake, exiting through the northern entrance and finding a gas station approximately 15 minutes away that carried diesel.

The diesel was extremely expensive, but at that point we had limited options.

Our strongest practical recommendation for Lassen is simple: arrive with a full tank of fuel.

Do not assume you will find convenient gas inside the park or immediately outside either entrance.

After filling up, we returned to the Manzanita Lake area and visited the Loomis Museum.

Loomis Museum, Junior Rangers and Manzanita Lake

The girls completed the Junior Ranger program during our visit.

We had initially stopped at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center, but the park movie was not playing there and they did not have the Junior Ranger badges available during our visit.

We had a better experience at the Loomis Museum near Manzanita Lake. The girls received their badges there, and we were able to watch the park film.

The museum also had taxidermied animals that allowed the kids to see some of Lassen’s wildlife up close. Forest especially enjoyed seeing what animals like a marmot and pine marten actually look like.

After visiting the museum, we carried our lunch down to Manzanita Lake.

Manzanita Lake is one of the most accessible and family-friendly areas in the park. It has a peaceful view of the surrounding mountains and is also one of the lakes where visitors can paddleboard or kayak.

We did not paddleboard during this trip, but Manzanita Lake and Summit Lake would both be high on our list if we had more time.

Devastated Area and Lassen’s Volcanic History

We later stopped at the Devastated Area Interpretive Trail, an easy half-mile loop that explains how Lassen’s eruptions shaped the surrounding landscape.

The trail includes volcanic rocks and boulders carried or thrown into the area during the eruptions. It was an easy way for the kids to connect what they had learned in the museum with the landscape around them.

One of the things that surprised us most about Lassen was its geological variety.

We learned that the park contains examples of the four major types of volcanoes: shield, composite, cinder cone and plug dome volcanoes. That made Lassen much more interesting than I had expected.

I had pictured a dry, empty volcanic landscape. Instead, much of Lassen was green and lush, with forests, lakes and mountain scenery surrounding the volcanic areas.

Some sections still show obvious damage from the 2021 Dixie Fire, but even with those burn scars, the park was much more beautiful than I had imagined.

Sulphur Works: A Small Taste of Yellowstone

We also stopped at Sulphur Works, one of the easiest hydrothermal areas to access in Lassen.

There was parking nearby and a short area where we could walk past steaming vents, bubbling mud pots and other geothermal features.

Before visiting Lassen, I had not realized there were other places in the United States where we could see features similar to Yellowstone’s fumaroles and mud pots.

Sulphur Works is much smaller than Yellowstone’s geothermal areas, but it was still fascinating to see those features in another national park. The smell of sulfur and rotten eggs made the experience feel even more familiar.

By the end of our first day, we had not completed a major hike, but we understood the park much better.

We had learned about volcanoes and butterflies, visited both sides of the park, watched the park film, completed the Junior Ranger program, eaten lunch by Manzanita Lake and walked through volcanic and hydrothermal areas.

It was not a physically demanding day, but it gave us the overview I needed before deciding where to focus next.

Hiking Bumpass Hell After Work

Our second trip into Lassen was exactly the kind of afternoon that makes staying near a national park worthwhile.

We waited for Eli to finish work and entered the park around 3:00 p.m. on a weekday. There was no line at the entrance, and we reached the Bumpass Hell trailhead around 3:30.

The parking area had plenty of open spaces, and there was a restroom at the trailhead.

Bumpass Hell is approximately a three-mile round-trip hike. It took our family a little under two hours, including the time we spent exploring the basin.

The trail follows the side of the mountain and includes some climbing, but we considered it moderate and very manageable. The surface was dusty, rocky and dirty in places.

I wore my Earth Runners and had no problem. My feet were dirty by the end, but the trail did not require heavy hiking boots for me in those conditions.

The views were beautiful immediately.

We could see Lassen Peak, forests, the valley below and a small stream running through the landscape. Purple wildflowers grew beside the trail, and the weather could not have been better. It was sunny, with no clouds in the sky, and temperatures were in the upper 70s.

We passed a few people, but the trail never felt crowded.

The kids became a little whiny at times, as children occasionally do on hikes, but they completed it without any real difficulty. We also met another family along the trail, and having new people to talk with made the hike even more enjoyable.

Entering the Bumpass Hell Basin

The most impressive part of Bumpass Hell is the sudden change in scenery.

For most of the hike, we were surrounded by green forests, mountains, wildflowers and streams. Then we descended into a landscape filled with steam, bare volcanic ground, thermal pools, mud pots and fumaroles.

It felt as though someone had placed a small piece of Yellowstone in the middle of a California mountain landscape.

The sulfur smell was strong and genuinely unpleasant. Staying out of the direct path of the steam helped, but there was no confusing where the rotten-egg smell came from.

Boardwalks lead through the hydrothermal basin and allow visitors to see the features safely. We explored the basin, stopped at the overlook and took the shorter alternate route through the lower area near the boiling frypan features.

We took the primary path down and used the alternate route while climbing back up.

After seeing both directions, I would recommend doing the opposite. The alternate trail offers an excellent view while descending into the basin, so I would take that route down and use the more direct path on the way back up.

Either direction is beautiful, but descending on the alternate trail would provide the more dramatic first view.

Swimming in Lake Helen

After completing the Bumpass Hell hike, we stopped at Lake Helen so the kids could get into the water and cool off.

Lake Helen sits below Lassen Peak and looks almost impossibly blue from certain angles. The water was cold, but the kids still enjoyed getting in after the hike.

They liked it enough that Eli later took them back into the park specifically to swim again.

On that second swimming trip, they brought goggles and explored the rocky bottom. All three kids got into the water and had a blast despite the temperature.

Lake Helen becomes deeper much more quickly than it appears from the shore. The bottom drops off sharply, so this is not a lake where I would allow younger children to wander far into the water without close supervision.

The cold water, goggles and rocky bottom turned a simple alpine lake stop into one of their favorite experiences of the week.

Some of my favorite travel days are not really full days at all.

We entered the park after Eli finished work, hiked for a couple of hours, let the kids swim in an alpine lake and then headed back to the campground. There were no major crowds, no pressure to complete ten different stops and no need to turn the afternoon into something bigger than it was.

It was simply a beautiful few hours spent together.

What We Missed in Lassen

We did not complete everything we had considered.

We missed:

  • Kings Creek Falls
  • Paradise Meadows
  • Summit Lake
  • Paddleboarding or kayaking
  • The hike to Lassen Peak

We heard from other visitors that Paradise Meadows and the Lassen Peak hike were worthwhile. We would also spend more time at Summit Lake and bring our paddleboard if we returned.

That said, we felt like we got what we needed from Lassen.

We drove the entire park road, explored the primary visitor areas, completed the Junior Ranger program, visited several hydrothermal features, hiked Bumpass Hell and swam in Lake Helen.

Lassen is not enormous. A family with two or three full days could experience the primary highlights without feeling rushed.

A Very Real RV-Life Detour to Redding, CA

Our time in Redding was not originally planned as part of a sightseeing itinerary.

We needed new tires on the truck.

Lots of miles mean lots of maintenance, and full-time RV travel does not pause simply because we are visiting a national park. We had to replace all four rear tires, so we used the time in Redding to run errands, explore, get the boys’ haircuts and find a gym where the girls could train.

Redding was difficult for us to get a feel for.

The roads felt tight and confusing, and driving around the city was more stressful than expected. Several areas had a significant amount of visible homelessness, along with signs of businesses taking additional security precautions. We noticed cameras, barred or protected windows and warning signs in several places.

That does not mean every part of Redding is unsafe, but the general atmosphere made it harder for us to relax.

The extreme heat did not help.

Turtle Bay Gardens and the Sundial Bridge

While the truck was being serviced, we visited the gardens near Turtle Bay Exploration Park and walked to the Sundial Bridge.

The gardens were free to enter, although a $5 donation per person was requested. There was also a nursery nearby.

Bathrooms and water fountains were available at both ends of the garden area, which was especially helpful in the heat. Cell service worked well throughout our visit.

Unfortunately, it was not a particularly good time of year or day to judge the gardens.

Very little was blooming, the temperature was brutal and there were not many shaded areas. We brought Willie, which also meant we could not go inside the Turtle Bay museum.

The gardens and Sacramento River Trail are not designated off-leash areas. Dogs are supposed to remain leashed. Because almost no one else was outside in the extreme heat, we briefly allowed Willie off leash through some of the empty garden paths and along portions of the trail. We leashed him before reaching the bridge.

This is not an off-leash destination, and I would not plan a visit assuming a dog can legally roam freely.

The Sundial Bridge Was Not What I Expected

I had imagined the Sundial Bridge would have a clear floor that allowed us to see directly through to the Sacramento River.

Instead, the walking surface had a blue covering or glass-like appearance that made it difficult to see through.

My middle child was still nervous crossing, even though she could not clearly see the river beneath her.

The bridge was also extremely hot.

In hindsight, I should not have brought Willie across it in the middle of such a hot day. He made it across without showing signs of injury, but several other visitors were carrying their dogs because of the surface temperature.

Anyone visiting with a dog during summer should check the bridge surface carefully before allowing paws to touch it.

Instead of returning through the exposed gardens, we followed the Sacramento River Trail toward our parking area.

The trail did not lead directly back to where we had parked, so we eventually had to walk around, but it was still the most enjoyable portion of the outing.

We found a small access point to the river where Willie could swim and cool down. By that point, all of us were dripping with sweat, so getting him into the water was necessary.

We also saw large patches of wild blackberries along the trail.

The Sacramento River itself was beautiful, and I could see the trail being a valuable local resource for biking, running and walking during cooler weather.

I would not recommend visiting the gardens and bridge in the middle of a summer afternoon. An early morning, evening or cooler season would provide a completely different experience.

Haircuts and Training in Redding

The boys got haircuts at Legends Barber Shop, and the girls attended a drop-in class at Rice Brothers Jiu-Jitsu.

We had called Rice Brothers ahead of time and were told both girls could attend the 4:30–5:30 intermediate-to-advanced kids class for a $20-per-child drop-in fee.

The gym had approximately 40 children on the mats, with a wide range of ages and belt levels. We saw white, gray, yellow and orange belts.

Our nine-year-old joined the white- and gray-belt group, while our eleven-year-old trained with the more advanced group.

The actual instruction was good.

The advanced group was taught by a brown belt instructor. They practiced several techniques, completed live rounds and participated in king-of-the-hill-style drills. The younger group trained with the black belt professor and followed a similar structure with age-appropriate techniques.

There were a lot of skilled kids in the room, and the gym clearly had access to strong training partners.

They also had a separate mat area used by a weekly wrestling club, which is a great resource for families interested in both wrestling and jiu-jitsu.

Unfortunately, the rest of the experience was strange.

No one greeted us when we arrived. We waited near the front, eventually found a liability waiver sign and completed the waiver ourselves. We then entered the mat room and waited again, but no one introduced themselves.

The girls eventually walked onto the mats and introduced themselves directly to the professor.

No one spoke to us after class or attempted to collect the drop-in fee. We waited around and were prepared to pay, but no one approached us. We left without paying because there was no clear person to give the money to. We would have happily paid had anyone asked.

We were also concerned by the gym’s cleanliness. The mats appeared visibly dirty, and we repeatedly saw children step off the mat barefoot before returning to train. We also noticed several visible skin spots or irritations that made us uncomfortable, although we obviously could not know what they were simply by looking.

The quality of instruction and training partners appeared strong, but the cleanliness, communication and overall welcome were disappointing.

It was one of those experiences where the class itself was good, but almost everything surrounding it felt off.

A Movie Night in Red Bluff

We also drove into Red Bluff to see a new Spider-Man movie.

After the heat, errands, truck maintenance and some of our stranger experiences in Redding, sitting in an air-conditioned theater together was exactly what we needed.

We all loved the movie.

Not every travel memory has to involve a national park hike or a major landmark. Sometimes a family movie night becomes part of the week simply because everyone enjoyed being together and escaping the heat for a few hours.

How Lassen Ranks for Us

Lassen Volcanic National Park was better than I expected, but it would still rank somewhere in the middle of the national parks we have visited.

It was beautiful, interesting and easy to explore. The geothermal features were fascinating, the lakes were gorgeous and the lack of major crowds made the entire experience more relaxed.

But it was not Glacier, Yellowstone or one of the parks that immediately became an all-time favorite.

I do not know that we would intentionally plan another California trip specifically to return to Lassen. If our travels brought us back through the area, however, we would gladly visit again and complete some of the hikes we missed.

Lassen is an excellent park for families who want variety without the logistics of an enormous national park.

In two or three full days, visitors could:

  • Drive the park road with GuideAlong
  • Hike Bumpass Hell
  • Visit Sulphur Works
  • Explore the Devastated Area
  • Complete the Junior Ranger program
  • Spend time at Manzanita, Summit or Lake Helen
  • Add Kings Creek Falls, Paradise Meadows or another longer hike

The park felt manageable without being boring.

Final Thoughts on Our Mineral Stay

This trip included more than Lassen Volcanic National Park.

It included thousands of butterflies filling the road while our children moved from amazement to sadness and then curiosity.

It included a seasonal camper giving our children hand-painted postcards.

It included replacing four truck tires because full-time travel means maintaining the equipment that carries our entire life.

It included a hot dog walk, a strange gym experience, boys getting haircuts, a movie in Red Bluff and cold lake swims under Lassen Peak.

Lassen itself surprised us with how green, beautiful and varied it was. Bumpass Hell gave us the geothermal features we had only previously associated with Yellowstone. Lake Helen gave the kids a place to swim, explore and laugh in water much colder and deeper than it first appeared.

Mineral gave us a quiet base where we could slow down and experience the park in smaller pieces.

This was not a week filled with constant bucket-list moments. It was a week made up of ordinary travel life mixed with a few completely unexpected experiences.

And sometimes, that combination is what makes a place memorable.

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