Parking
Use the Horseshoe Lake/Snag Lake trailhead area in the Juniper Lake network. The mapped line begins about 130 m from the nearby named trailhead point; confirm where parking is legal and how to reach the route.
Overview
About Grassy Creek Long Loop
Why go
- Links a ridge, Cameron Meadow and creekside forest in one loop.
Heads up
- Older route descriptions list 7.8 miles; the traced loop is 6.9.
- Steeper pitches and footlogs can slow progress.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Lassen Volcanic map
Full mapElevation6,119–7,021 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
1 active Lassen Volcanic alert
- ClosureJuniper Lake campground and day-use area closedMentions Juniper Lake, referenced in this guideJuniper Lake Campground and day-use area are closed for maintenance and campground-improvement projects. - Potable water is unavailable in the campground.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Lassen Volcanic Tour Guide
Your drive to Grassy Creek Long Loop, narrated.
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 area
Juniper Lake: Beach or Long Loop0:00 / 0:29
“You’re nearing Juniper Lake’s north-shore day-use area, where a gravel-and-sand beach looks across the water toward Mount Harkness.”
Plays near this trailhead in the Parkwolf Lassen Volcanic Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Crystal Lake: A Short but Steep Climb
- Mount Harkness: Meadow Views and a Lost Lookout
- Life Inside a Burned Tree
- The Pika's Winter Pantry
- 45 audio storiesacross Lassen Volcanic’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Bald Eagle, Mule Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 59 trails, 56 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Grassy Creek Long Loop
The loopGrassy Creek Long Loop is a forested 6.9-mile circuit through the Juniper Lake area.
Grassy Creek Long Loop is a forested 6.9-mile circuit through the Juniper Lake area. It climbs over a ridge, passes Cameron Meadow (usually glimpsed through trees), crosses Grassy Creek and returns beside the creek before climbing back over the ridge. Allow about 4 hours for the walk and its roughly 1,100 feet of climbing. The mapped line measures 6.87 miles; older route descriptions list 7.8 miles, so extra distance may apply depending on the access line you follow.
Footing and pacingExpect uneven single-track, two sustained climbs and a few steeper pitches.
Expect uneven single-track, two sustained climbs and a few steeper pitches. The route map marks footlogs and a footbridge; their current condition is unverified. The high point is around 7,000 feet, so the climbing can feel harder than the mileage suggests.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Lassen Volcanic
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.
