Black Crater - Lava Beds National Park
N 41° 45.900 W 121° 33.388
10T E 619990 N 4624691
This scenic roadside vista is located within the Lava Beds National Monument (park fees may apply in season) and along the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway in Siskiyou County, CA.
Waymark Code: WMFW61
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/06/2012
Views: 3
This scenic roadside lookout focuses on the Medicine Lake shield volcano as well as a trail that leads to the site of the Thomas-Wright Battle (one of the many battles of the Modoc War of 1872-73) in this part of the national monument. There are two informative signs that discuss the history and area here. The volcanic sign says the following:
A Volcanic Classroom
Preserved for its caves and volcanic features since 1925, Lava Beds serves as an outdoor school for professional and amateur geologists alike. While the Monument covers only ten percent of the surface area of the massive Medicine Lake shield volcano--the largest in the Cascades Range--it contains excellent examples of the many formations volcanic eruptions can leave behind. Here you can explore dozens of lava tube caves, hike to the top of a cinder cone, peer into a hollow spatter cone, and marvel at wide expanses of jagged lava fields. All of these features formed rapidly during eruptive periods as lava exploded into the air or flowed downhill for miles. Though the volcano is a half-million years old, its most recent eruption at Glass Mountain occurred only 900 years ago. This suggests that lava may someday erupt here again, erasing old features and recreating the landscape once more.