Spatter Cones Interpretive Trail, California - Self Guided Walks and Trails on Waymarking.com

About 24,000 years ago (USGS date of 24±6 ka) an eruption fluid basalt from a chain of spatter cones occurred along the route of this trail. There are three introductory signs at the trailhead. The trail is primarily interpreted by a brochure, but there are also three other signs along the trail.


Signs at trailhead

Silent Stones Tell Many Stories - Ancient flows of lava are recorded in stone along the Spatter Cones Trail. The 2-mile loop trail begins in a pine forest and enters a land of spatter cones, lava domes, and lava tubes. You can walk the entire trail loop, or sample a portion of it.

A Fiery Past Created this Landscape - Many geologic processes are at work in the Northern California landscape. Some of these events created towering mountains. Here, a unique eruption built low cones and filled a broad valley.
About 30,000 years ago, fissures opened in the earth’s crust. Fountains of hot, fluid lava erupted, creating a series of spatter cones. Huge volumes of lava flowed north to the farthest reaches of Hat Creek Valley, and west to where the Spatter Cones Trail passes today.
The Spatter Cones lie in an area of competing geologic processes. To the east, in the Basin and Range province, the earth’s crust is being stretched and pulled apart. To the west the ocean floor is being pushed beneath the continent to produce the Cascade volcanoes. This is a unique area indeed!

Life Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Dry weather patterns and old lava flows create a challenging environment for plants and animals in the area of the Spatter Cones Trail. Yet many thrive in this rocky, arid land.
Mountain ranges to the west intercept most of the moisture from ocean air. Nearly all precipitation arrives as winter snow, and scarce summer rain seeps quickly through the porous lava.
Drought tolerant trees, shrubs and flowers take root in thin soil and in earth-filled cracks among the rocks. These plants provide places for wildlife to escape the summer heat and hide predators


Contents of interpretive brochure plus three signs along trail.

The Spatter Cones Trail traverses a “young” volcanic landscape created about 30,000 years ago by especially hot, fluid lava. Erupting in fountains and gushing from vents, the lava built small spatter cones along a 2-mile fissure. The vents also fed lava flows that reached many miles down Hat Creek Valley. A mosaic of plants has gained a foothold here, while a pine forest grows in deeper soils at the flow’s edges.

Marker 1 - Grow out the welcome mat! - As you travel from the kiosk to stop #1, you’ll be welcomed by mahala mat (Ceanothus prostratus), a hardy plant named for the Hawaiian landscape and adapted to harsh climates. Stop at trail sign #1 and discover the hidden world of a lava tube.

Sign near Marker 1 - Lava Flows Create Hollow Worlds
Basalt lava, which issued from the Spatter Cones vents; moved in tongue-like streams. The top and sides of the lava cooled as it flowed, but the interior remained a fluid channel. A lava tube forms when the source of lava stops or slows, and the molten lava drains out of the channel. Many lava channels cool while still full and form solid rock instead of tubes.
Here, you can see a small lava tube exposed because part of its roof collapsed. A large tube can be explored at Subway Cave, 2 miles north on Highway 89 across from Cave Campground. The source of lava which formed this tube may have been a vent near the top of the trail about a mile away.

Marker 2 - Pine forests need deep soil - Here, the soil is deep enough to nurture a forest of Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine. Western rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) and small mammals are nearly invisible in the carpet of pine needles. Soon you’ll reach the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. Follow it about 50 feet where it intersects with Spatter Cones Trail.

Marker 3 - Choose your route - This brochure follows the left fork of the trail, but you can walk either way. Refer to the trail sign here for route options. Watch for western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) sunning themselves on rocks, and birds and mammals foraging among shrubs.

Sign at Marker 3 - Choose Your Route Through the Spatter Cones
You are entering a landscape of spatter cones, lava domes, and lava tubes. Many interesting plants and animals have found a niche in this unusual volcanic setting.
The full loop is a 2-mile journey with a few steep sections and an elevation change of about 220 feet. If you choose to walk a portion of the trail, the left fork is steeper and has a greater variety of volcanic features. the right fork is a gentler path leading directly to the spectacular Spatter Tube stop and a view of Lassen Peak.

Marker 4 - Cooling lava made a stone puzzle - As this lobe of lava cooled, shrinkage cracks developed from the surface into the heart of the rock and broke it into six-sided columns. This is called columnar jointing. Now the tops of the columns fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Marker 5 - Lava lifts a dome - A lobe of molten lava slowed here, and its surface began to solidify. A new surge of lava, or perhaps an obstruction downstream, heaved the surface into a dome (tumulus). This tumulus is hollow because the still-molten interior found an exit and partially drained.

Marker 6 - Giant Steps mark an old lava tube - Stones arranged like steps are the collapsed remains of a lava tube. This tube was a major channel for lava flowing west from the original eruption. As the trail steepens, you leave the area of lava flows and begin to climb spatter cones.

Marker 7 - View reveals volcanic variety - Distant peaks were formed by eruptions unlike the hot, fluid Spatter Cones flow. Sugar loaf Peak, to the right, is made of more viscous (or thicker) lava. The bare cinder cone in front of Wilcox Peak was created by bits of explosive lava that cooled and fragmented before falling.

Marker 8 - Cool habitat in a harsh land - Bat Cave is a collapsed lava tube and a cool, moist haven for bats. They usually fly in and out of the entrance at dusk. Seasonal ferns, mosses and lichens grow inside some lava tubes. This cave is probably part of the Giant Steps tube system seen at Stop 6.

Marker 9 - Vibrant colors adorn Beaut Cone - Twenty volcanic spatter cones emerged along a two-mile fissure here. Fountains of lava fragmented in mid-air as gases escaped. The lava landed in showers around each vent, forming the cones. High temperatures and rapid cooling of the spatter produced rich colors and textures here.

Marker 10 - Steep Cone - the largest crater - Steep Cone is the most dramatic of the Spatter Cones. Deep and nearly circular, it is 95 feet in diameter. Refer to the sign located here to learn more about the geology. In spring, songbirds cling to chokecherry’s (Prunus virginiana) beautiful blossoms. Later, they return to eat the fruits.

Sign near Marker 10 - The Earth Moves Under Our Feet
The earth’s crust rides on tectonic plates moved around by forces deep beneath the surface. As the plates interact, the crust is stretched or compressed along fractures called faults. Hat Creek Rim, the prominent ridge along the east side of the valley, is an example of such a fault. The floor of Hat Creek Valley is over 1,000 feet lower than the top of the Rim. A million years ago they were at the same elevation.
Lava on the Move
Molten lava once filled the Steep Cone crater and the craters of the other spatter cones along this ridge. Sometimes the lava bubbled quietly. At other times the lava burst into high fountains, spewing clots of spatter into the air. This spatter built up the cone’s sides. A much larger volume of lava seeped through the spatter at the base of the cones and flowed as far as 16 miles north in Hat Creek Valley. The lava flowed in channels called lava tubes.

Marker 11 - Look into a volcanic vent - This collapsed pit is the only one of its kind on the trail. It may be a collapsed vent which barely broke the surface and did not build a large spatter cone. As you leave this site, you’ll come to an intersection. Follow the trail south to the next site.

Marker 12 - Spectacular jointing on a lava flow - This is a fine example of a small lava tube with well-developed columnar jointing. Uplifting from increased pressure in the molten interior probably caused the uneven height. Similar uplifts on flatter terrain would create a tumulus (see stop 5).

Marker 13 - Volcanic ash from the sky - The sand beneath your feet contains fine ash and pumice from an eruption 1,100 years ago and 25 miles away at Chaos Crags in Lassen Volcanic Park. The sparkles are bits of feldspar and quartz. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and Antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) thrive in the dry soil, but the Scouler willow (Salix scouleri) shows that moisture is here too.

Marker 14 - A view into Lassen Volcanic National Park - Every high point on the horizon is the relic of a volcanic eruption. Lassen Peak, the tallest, emerged about 27,000 years ago on an ancient, collapsed volcano. Chaos Crags, to the right, appeared 1100 years ago.

Marker 15 - Solitary Sentinel stands tall - This lone pine is scarred by lightning. The pine is growing on the flanks of an isolated mound of volcanic spatter. It is not clear whether the mound is a spatter cone fed by its own vent, or just a large tumulus.

Marker 16 - Plants adapt to Spatter Cones climate - Take a short side trip to see a partially drained lava tube with an entry hole. Notice drought-tolerant plants like green-leaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) and curl-leaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) growing outside the tube. Seasona maidenhair fern (Adiantum jordanii) grow inside the moist, cool, mouth of the tube.

Marker 17 - Spatter Tube: A cone and tube that has it all! - This little lava tube drains a small spatter cone. Intense heat caused the roof and sides of the tube to partially melt, forming icicle-like drips called “lava cicles”. Of all the Spatter Cones Trail features, Spatter Tube is a microcosm of the area’s volcanic history.


For more information visit the nearby Old Station Visitor Center.

Fee?: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Approximate Time to Finish: 2 hours Addtional Website URL: [Web Link] Brochure or Interpretive Signs: Brochure Rate the Walk: Wherigo Cartridge: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
A picture at the start of the Trail or Walk is greatly appreciated. Additional photos taken during the course of the walk would also be of great benefit.

If there does not appear to be a defined beginning to the trail or walk, pick a logical place (e.g. close to parking) or where information about the walk or trail can be gathered.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   09/14/2013 Volcanoguy visited it