Sight · Lassen Volcanic National Park
A short hike to a high-country lake with shy gas bubbles.
Overview
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Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Lassen Volcanic Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Lassen Volcanic National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Lassen Volcanic audio tourRecorded for this place
Kings Creek Picnic Area and Cold Boiling Lake“You're coming up on the turnoff for Kings Creek Picnic Area, a shaded place to stop for lunch near the creek.”
Plays as you drive up to Cold Boiling Lake in the Parkwolf Lassen Volcanic Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Cold Boiling Lake is a small, high-elevation lake on Lassen's Kings Creek trail. Its unusual feature is easy to miss: small gas bubbles rise at a few points along the shore. I’d add it to a walk toward Crumbaugh Lake or Bumpass Hell; as an out-and-back by itself, keep expectations modest because the bubbling can be faint or absent.
Start at Kings Creek Picnic Area. Cold Boiling Lake is 0.8 mile one way from there; Crumbaugh Lake is 1.3 miles from the picnic area, and Bumpass Hell Basin is 2.6 miles one way. This is a walking destination, not a drive-up shoreline. The picnic area has parking and accessible restrooms, but the lake still takes a 0.8-mile walk to reach.
The lake isn't a hot pool. It's a fading hydrothermal area that still releases small amounts of gas at a few points near shore. Across Lassen, rain and snowmelt feed the wider hydrothermal system after being heated underground by hot or molten rock beneath Lassen Peak. If bubbles are showing, frame the shallow, grass-edged water rather than relying on a wide lake view to explain the name.
Wildlife
103 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
44 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
348 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
17 sightingsSandhill CraneMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
47 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsGreat EgretMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lassen Volcanic. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyCrumbaugh Lake Trail2.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayTwo lakes, muted bubbles, and a meadow below Mount Conard.EasyCold Boiling Lake Trail1.6 mi · 54 min · 0.5 mi awayA short, mostly level walk to a lake that may still bubble.
ModerateBumpass Hell via Cold Boiling Lake5.2 mi · 3 hr · 0.5 mi awayHike to Bumpass Hell from the east, via Cold Boiling Lake.
ModerateBench Lake Trail3.8 mi · 2.3 hr · 1.3 mi awayA small lake below cliffs after a bridge over Kings Creek.
ModerateSifford Lakes Trail6.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayA creekside loop links a 50-foot falls to high-country lakes.
ModerateKings Creek Falls Trail2.8 mi · 2 hr · 1.3 mi awayA waterfall loop ends beside the creek on steep stone stairs.
ModerateTerrace, Shadow, and Cliff Lakes Trail3.4 mi · 3 hr · 1.4 mi awayThree alpine lakes, a steep return, and Lassen Peak views.
ModerateShadow Lake Shuttle Trail3.7 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayThree lakes, then a mostly downhill walk to Summit Lake
Picnic area · 0.6 mi awayKings Creek Picnic AreaA shaded picnic stop with a short walk to a bubbling lake.
Scenic pullout · 0.8 mi awayKings Creek Meadow ViewpointA winding creek crosses a seasonal meadow beneath Lassen Peak.
Sight · 1 mi awayBumpass HellWalk boardwalks among bubbling pools and steaming vents in a 16-acre basin.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayLake HelenA blue alpine lake beneath Lassen Peak can stay icy into summer.
Scenic pullout · 1.7 mi awayLassen Peak Scenic VistaA roadside portrait of Lassen Peak without the summit hike.
Scenic pullout · 1.7 mi awayBrokeoff Volcano VistaA glacial boulder below the rim of an ancient volcano.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayMill Creek FallsA 75-foot waterfall worth the hot, hilly hike to reach it.
Sight · 2 mi awayEmerald LakeGreen water, rocky shore, and Lassen Peak in the same frame.Parkwolf’s Lassen Volcanic ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
