Lava Beds National Monument is a land of turmoil, both geological and historical. Over the last half-million years, volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano created an incredibly rugged landscape punctuated by cinder cones, lava flows, spatter cones, lava tube caves and pit craters. These lava tube caves, of which there are more than 500 in the Monument, are a favorite underground destination for visitors to explore. During the Modoc War of 1872-1873, the Modoc Indians used these lava flows to their advantage. Under the leadership of Captain Jack, the Modocs took refuge in “Captain Jack’s Stronghold,” a natural lava fortress. From this base a group of 53 fighting men and their families held off US Army forces numbering up to ten times their strength for five months.
The historic battlegrounds of the Modoc War and the surrounding volcanic landscape are the primary reasons the Lava Beds were designated as a National Monument in 1925.
Introduction
Lava Beds National Monument is the site of the largest concentration of lava tube caves in the United States. The monument lies on the northeast flank of the Medicine Lake shield volcano, the largest volcano (total area covered) in the Cascade Range. The region in and around the monument is unique because it lies on the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade and Great Basin physiographic provinces. In addition, the monument is geologically outstanding because of its great variety of “textbook” volcanic formations (i.e., lava tube caves, fumaroles, cinder cones, spatter cones, maar volcanoes and lava flows). Over 30 separate lava flows located in the park range in age from 2,000,000 years BP to 1,110 years BP.
Some of the major Lava Flows within Lava Beds National Monument include: Callahan Flow, Schonchin Flow, Mammoth Crater Flow, Modoc Crater Flow and Devils Homestead Flow. Lava Beds National Monument covers 72 square miles within Siskiyou and Modoc counties in northeastern California. The Monument is the site of the largest concentration of lava tube caves in the United States. The monument lies on the northeast flank of the Medicine Lake shield volcano, the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. The region in and around the monument is unique because is lies on the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade and Great Basin geological provinces. In addition, the monument is geologically outstanding because of its great variety of “textbook” volcanic formations; i.e., lava tube caves, fumaroles, cinder cones, spatter cones, maar volcanoes and lava flows. Over 30 separate lava flows located in the park range in age from 2,000,000 years BP to 1,110 years BP. Some of the major Lava Flows within Lava Beds National Monument include: Callahan Flow, Schonchin Flow, Mammoth Crater Flow, Modoc Crater Flow and Devils Homestead Flow.
In addition to these surface geologic resources , the monument has a significant and popular underground resource. Presently over 460 lava tube caves and features have been identified in the monument. The field inventory process for cave resources is not yet complete. These caves are notable in their abundance, length of passage and excellent preservation of primary volcanic features; several also contain specific features of interest such as pictographs, ice formations and biological resources of scientific interest.
History & Culture
The Lava Beds have a long history. Rock art on cliffs and cave walls are evidence of thousands of years of habitation by native peoples. The last Native Americas to call the Lava Beds their home were the Modocs, who’s conflict with the U. S. Army lead to their complete removal to reservations as far away as Oklahoma. Then, through the efforts of veterans of that conflict and local cave enthusiast J. D. Howard, this National Monument was created in 1925. With the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the park was developed into much of what visitors enjoy here today.
Nature & Science
Lava Beds National Monument is located on the north flank of a large shield volcano, Medicine Lake volcano. The volcano includes a variety of rock types known as basalt, andesite, dacite and rhyolite. These volcanic rocks form a continuous series based on gradational increases in silica content (window glass is mostly silica). Basalt has as little as 47% silica and rhyolite as much as 77%. As silica content changes, so do the physical properties of the volcanic rocks. Erupting high-silica lavas, such as those forming dacite and rhyolite, are occasionally explosive; they tend to be cooler and more viscous (sticky) than those forming basalt and so move very slowly, creating thick flows.
One form of rhyolite is obsidian, the volcanic glass that Indians commonly used to make arrowheads. When basaltic lava erupts, it is much hotter and more fluid than rhyolitic lava and can move quite rapidly over the ground surface or through lava tubes, typically forming relatively thin flows. For example, eruptions of basalt are common in Hawaii. Andesite has properties between basalt and rhyolite. About 90% of Lava Beds National Monument is covered by basaltic rocks; the remainder is mostly andesite. This distribution is true of all of the lower slopes of Medicine Lake volcano. Rhyolite and dacite can be found high on the volcano.
About two-thirds of the basalt exposed in Lava Beds National Monument erupted from Mammoth Crater and related vents, including Modoc Crater and Bearpaw Butte. The basaltic lava was transported out to the northern and northeastern parts of the monument where Canby’s cross, captain Jack’s Stronghold and Hospital Rock are located, via lava tubes. Where empty, these tubes form caves, such as Balcony, Boulevard, Merrill, Skull and Fern. The caves along Cave Loop Drive are located in lava tubes that transported basalt of Mammoth Crater to the east, to Craig Cave and beyond. This very large eruption produced at least one cubic mile of basaltic lava in less than a hundred years. The date of the eruption is unknown but almost certainly took place less than 100,000 years ago.
Many features in the monument formed before the eruption of the basalt of Mammoth Crater, including Schonchin Butte and the Schonchin flow, Eagle Nest Butte, Hippo Butte, Crescent Butte, the Three Sisters and Juniper Butte. Also present was Gillem Bluff, which had already been broken by faulting into a high cliff, although some fault movement has taken place since and is likely to occur in the future. Much older lavas, about a million years old, are exposed in Gillem Bluff.
after the basalt of Mammoth Crater, another basaltic eruption occurred that formed The Castles, located on either side of the main road near Schonchin Butte. This basalt erupted from numerous spatter vents and flowed north around Hardin Butte. Still younger are several Holocene lava flows (that is, less than 10,000 years old and younger than the latest glaciation that formed areas of ice on top of Medicine Lake volcano). These include basalt erupted from Fleener Chimneys that forms the Devils Homestead, basalt that erupted to form Black Craters, Ross Chimneys and their associated flows and basalt that erupted near Tickner and Bertha’s Cupboard Caves just south of the monument boundary and flowed east around Caldwell Butte to form Valentine Cave.
Slightly more andesitic lava erupted about 1100 years ago to form the blocky Callahan lava flow (sometimes known as the Black lava flow), a portion of which covers the southwestern part of Lava Beds National Monument; this flow erupted from Cinder Butte, located just outside the monument boundary. Cinder Butte forms a conspicuous landmark for park visitors, especially in winter when its treeless slopes are commonly covered with a dusting of snow. The Callahan flow is the youngest lava flow in the monument. Covering all the flows is a thin layer of white pumice fragments that formed as fallout from explosive eruptions about a thousand years ago when Glass Mountain and Little Glass Mountain erupted high on the slopes of Medicine Lake volcano.
Another flow that is andesitic in composition and blocky in appearance is the Schonchin flow. It appears much younger than the basalts of the Castles and Mammoth Crater that surround and overlie it. These latter flows were more fluid and thus have a smoother surface, on which soil formed more rapidly and vegetation took hold more easily than on the rough-surfaced Schonchin flow. Thus it is not always easy to decide which lava flow is younger unless the contact between them is carefully mapped. Commonly, the more blocky, viscous lava (typically higher in silica) erupted from cinder cones, whereas the more fluid lava erupted from small spatter vents (for example, Fleener Chimneys), although this is not always true.
Some lava in the monument interacted with water when it erupted. This is particularly apparent in the Petroglyphs section, where tuff rings formed when lava erupted in ancient Tule Lake. These rings of fragmental material that accumulated around the explosive vents were later partially eroded by the wind-driven waves of ancient Tule Lake, forming the wave-cut bench that is now the parking area for the Petroglyphs. Juniper Butte is another eroded tuff ring. The north edge of the basalt of Mammoth Crater flowed into ancient Tule Lake, forming the characteristic chilled blobs called pillow lava.
Lava Beds National Monument has features like those at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and in Idaho at Craters of the Moon National Monument. All three areas are dominated by basaltic rock. However, Medicine Lake volcano also displays a much wider variety of volcanic phenomena, most notably the spectacular young rhyolite flows of Glass Mountain and Little Glass Mountain. These two flows have many similarities to the dome now growing in the crater of Mount St. Helens. Visitors to Lava Beds National Monument have the opportunity of viewing a wide range of interesting volcanic features in a relatively small area.
Recreation
Hiking
The most popular trails at Lava Beds are short, few are long and most lead to significant sites in the monument. Pets are not permitted on any of the trails.Bunchgrass Trail: Starts across from Site B-7 in Campground. Runs around the northeast side of Crescent Butte to the park road. Approximately 1 mile long.
Heppe Ice Cave Trail: Heppe Cave Trail can be found on the road to Mammoth Crater, 2.2 miles from the main park road. This is a .4 mile trail that begins under tall pine trees. As you reach the end of the trail you can view an enormous collapse. Follow the trail into Heppe Cave that has a large opening at both ends.
Missing Link Trail: This trail links the Three Sisters Trail to the Bunchgrass Trail, making Three Sisters a loop. Starts on the Bunchgrass Trail about .5 miles from the campground B-Loop. It is .7 mile on the trail to Skull Cave road and .1 mile on the road to Skull Cave and the Lyons/Three Sisters Trail. The complete loop is 10 miles.
Schonchin Butte Trail: Climbs .9 mile to the fire lookout and a panoramic view. Steep, but worth the effort. You can be a guest of the lookout on duty. Please stay on the designated trail and do not shortcut switchbacks.
Big Painted Cave & Symbol Bridge Trail: Winds .75 mile past interesting lava tube collapses and other features. Many fine pictographs at the bridge and cave. Take Skull Cave Road to parking area and trailhead.
Black Crater and Thomas-Wright Battlefield Trail: Volcanism and history. Less than .3 mile to the crater; 1.1 miles to the end of the trail and a view of the battlefield. Fine wildflower displays along the way in season.
Gillems Bluff: This trail climbs to the top of Gillems Bluff, .7 mile, for a view of Gillems Camp and the surrounding landscape; elevation gain 550 feet. Watch for rattlesnakes in the summer.
Captain Jacks Stronghold Trail: Two self-guiding interpretive trails through the heart of the Modoc War. Inner loop .6 mile; outer loop 1.1 miles. Be prepared for rough terrain.
Three Sisters Trail: Entered at the campground from A-Loop, this trail circles out into the back country and returns to the Skull Cave Road. 8.8 miles.
Lyons Trail: A former monument road, this trail crosses the wilderness area on a north-south axis between Skull Cave parking area and Hospital Rock on the North Boundary Road. 9.8 miles.
Whitney Butte Trail: From Merrill Cave parking area to the west boundary of the monument, this trail crosses the wilderness in an east-west direction, curving around Whitney Butte. Enjoy an impressive view of Mt. Shasta and the Callahan lava flow, 3.3 miles.
Getting There
From the North
Visitors travelling south on Highway 139 (from Oregon) will see signs four miles south of Tulelake directing them into Lava Beds.
From the South
Visitors travelling north on Highway 139 (from Alturas) will see signs 27 miles north of Canby directing them into Lava Beds.
Traveler Facts
Contact Information
Lava Beds National Monument
1 Indian Well
Tulelake, CA 96134
Phone: 530-667-8104 (Headquarters)
Phone 530-667-8100 (Visitor Information)
Fax: 530-667-2737
Operating Hours & Seasons
Lava Beds National Monument is always open to visitors. The Visitor Center hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the winter season, open to 6:00 p.m. during the summer season (Memorial to Labor Day) and is closed Christmas Day.
Weather/Climate
The weather in northeastern California is particularly unpredictable and visitors should be ready for all conditions throughout the year. Generally, however, summers are sunny and warm while winters are cold with below-freezing nights and occasional snow. Visitors should always have warm clothing, sturdy boots, gloves and protective headgear available if they plan to visit the lava tube caves.
