Burney Falls (North of Mt. Lassen)

Burney Falls State Park
(North of Mt. Lassen)

McArthur-Burney Falls State Park is located about one hour north of Lassen Volcanic National Park, or about a half an hour north of Hat Creek. A short walk from the parking lot takes you to to a paved trail that zigzags down the side of a gorge to the bottom of the falls. From the bottom, you can take the trail downstream, cross a bridge, and go up the other side of the gorge, and up to the creek feeding the falls. Another bridge crosses the creek, and the trail takes you back to the parking lot. The whole loop trail is about a mile and takes an hour or so to walk.

A light rain began to fall as we reached the bottom of the falls. There was some discussion of turning back, but we decided to press on in spite of the rain. Between the four of us, we had a single flimsy umbrella, which I used because nobody else was willing to carry it. But the rain turned out to be light and we all had a very enjoyable hike around the falls.

Signs were posted along the trail to point out the various types of plants, wildlife, and geological features such as this lava rockfall at the bridge below the falls.

There were other trails in the park, but we decided to leave so we could get some lunch and go to Cinder Cone in the afternoon.