Lassen Peak was named after Peter Lassen, a pioneer of Danish birth who is reported to have used the mountain as a landmark. Lassen blazed a round-about emigrant trail from Black Rock (Nevada), east and south of the present park area, to his Deer Creek Rancho “Bosquejo” in the Sacramento Valley. (0.2 mile) 23 SUMMIT SIGN, HIGHEST POINT on the road: 8,512 feet above sea level. For about a mile either way along the road in spring and early summer cross country skiing is normally good. Snow generally closes the road for the winter in November and plows cut through the winter pack anywhere from the end of May to early July. (0.4 mile) 24 In addition to the mountain hemlocks, here also are the gnarled, multiple-trunked WHITE BARK PINES. This is one of the few places in California where this fascinating and photogenic tree can be reached by road. The snow banks seen on the rocky slopes across the ravine frequently last through the whole summer. [Illustration: WHITE BARK PINE (cones 1½ inch)] (0.3 mile) 25 LAKE ALMANOR AND MT. HARKNESS VIEW SIGN. Warner Valley has been modified by a glacier 1,000 feet thick. Lake Almanor and Mountain Meadow Reservoir, both outside the park, are artificial lakes, part of the Caribou Power System of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Peter Lassen’s emigrant trail from Black Rock, Nevada, ran from north to south through the Lake Almanor basin (Big Meadow) before turning west again. Highway No. 36 runs between the Cascade Range on the north and the Sierra Nevada on the south. [Illustration: Landscape] NEVADA MT. MEADOW RESERVOIR LAKE ALMANOR MT. HARKNESS DYER MT. SADDLE MT. READING PEAK KELLY MT. RED MT. WARNER VALLEY (0.6 mile) 26 FISSURES may be seen in rocks 100 yards from the road and also near the road between here and stake 27. These cracks, sometimes quite large, are typical of weak zones in volcanic areas. (0.5 mile) 27 TRAIL SIGN on the down-hill side of the road indicates the start of the trail to Terrace Lake (0.5 mile); Shadow Lake (0.8 mile); and Cliff Lake (1.5 miles). You can also reach the park road again at Summit Lake about (4.0 miles) or at Hat Lake about (3.5 miles). (0.1 mile) 28 8,000-FOOT ELEVATION MARKER. From here Prospect Peak is visible. Like Mt. Harkness, it is a small but good example of shield volcano. On top of it is a small cinder cone which destroys the low shield-shape cross-section (indicated by the dotted line) characteristic of that type of volcano. At the right base of Prospect Peak is Hat Mountain, and behind it, at its right base, remarkable Cinder Cone in the northeast corner of the park. [Illustration: Landscape] HAT MT. CINDER CONE PROSPECT PEAK (1.0 mile)