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Manzanita Lake Campground (elevation 5,900 ft.) is the largest campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park. It is within walking distance of the scenic Manzanita Lake, a popular fishing and family destination, and offers impressive views of Lassen Peak, the largest volcano in the park at 10,457 feet. The facility is conveniently located one mile south of the park entrance, close to The Loomis Museum, Loomis Ranger Station and popular hiking trails. Educational programs are presented at the museum and amphitheater. Recreation Manzanita Lake is popular with fly fishermen, but the campground does maintain a catch-and-release policy. Non-motorized boating is also permitted and Kayak rentals are available nearby. The park boasts more than 150 miles of hiking trails, a variety of which can be accessed from the campground, including family-friendly hikes as well as those for more experienced hikers. Facilities Manzanita Lake Campground is forested with Jeffrey and Ponderosa pines and has many comforts in the campground or close by, including pay showers, a general store and paved roads. Flush toilets and running water are turned on during the summer, vault toilets are available outside of the peak season. For more information visit Campgrounds of Lassen Volcanic. Natural Features The national park is known for its volcanic history, as well as its diversity of plants and animals. It contains 300 active volcanic domes, as well as many hydrothermal features, such as mud pots and steam vents. Lassen Peak is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascades, and the second most recent to erupt in the lower 48 of the United States before Mount Saint Helens. Lassen National Park boasts over 700 species of flowering plants and 250 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. The park is at the junction of the Cascade Mountains, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Great Basin, thus providing many unique habitats. ADA Access: N
From Redding, California drive 48 miles east on State Highway 44. Turn right into Lassen Volcanic National Park and continue one mile south to Manzanita Lake Campground.
Stayed in the RV area. Clean restrooms. Easy walk trail around the lake. Missed the museum hours but the posted history of the area is interesting.
Manazanita Lake in Mount Lassen is a beautiful place. The cabins are nice and very clean. The mattress is a bit hard and I recommend bringing a soft camping pad. The management is awful. It may be the worse I have ever seen in all my camping years. I could not get the heat to work in our unit. I asked for assistance and after 1 1/2 hours my wife went and asked again. They sent over 2 young men who were house staff. They admitted they new nothing about the heaters. Later 1 of them arrived with a portable heater. The camp store was fairly empty when we arrived on Monday. It wasn’t until Thursday that supplies finally arrived. Yet they still did not have bottle water. Because of management being so disorganized we will not be returning.
We love Lassen and Manzanita Lake is beautiful. So this review doesn’t reflect on the park itself.
We have typically stayed in the cabins which is a great experience so that is also not part of this review.
This time we opted to tent camp and we ended up leaving halfway into our stay because the group next to us was loud, drunk and playing loud music and talking loudly about inappropriate things late into the night and this happened for three days until we just decided to leave.
We have a young child and their were lots of families there and one of them got upset and left as well.
It ruined what would have been a great experience for us. Feeing frustrated about it because having more ranger presence and a camp host could have easily mitigated this behavior that is largely considered rude and unacceptable in a public space.
My husband drove around for awhile looking for a ranger or camp host and no one was available to supervise or talk to. In fact we tried again in the morning and no one at the camp store knew who to report the behavior to.
We’ve been camping many times and we have never experienced such poor oversight. It’s no wonder people who want to party come to the tent sites at Lassen. If you don’t care about enjoying the natural environment around you and just want to party and get wasted come to the tent sites here.
If you’re going to come to Lassen to actually enjoy the beautiful environment either go to the cabins or camp just outside the park in one of the less crowded areas.
Love car camping here. Bathrooms and water are available and you can find pretty much anything you might want at the camp store. The lake is absolutely stunning too! We bring our paddle boards and spend a couple hours just going around the lake. You can swim too but it is chilly! Lots of hiking options nearby within Lassen. July/August is a really nice time to go.
As a campground it has everything you expect. Not strong on encouraging quiet after dark so be prepared to experience rowdy campers late into the night. The hike associated with this campground is a bit underwhelming as well. After about three miles we asked a passing hiker what was at the end and his response "disappointment" proved to be true. Many better hikes to enjoy. At least they have tent only camp sites so you don't have to hear the generators of RVs too.
