Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center, Lassen Volcanic National Park

Really great place to stop by before going into the park or starting your home up the road in the winter. The road is paved up until the visitor's center. Really warm inside and the staff is super friendly and helpful. They offer ideas for hikes and make sure you stay safe while in the park. There's a lot to see in here and learn from. Great gifts, and lots of info on the park. The restrooms are very clean. There's plenty of parking too. The sulfur works were only about a mile up the road. We walked up there and checked them out. It was a nice hike up the road in the snow! Lots of snow when we went (around Oct).

Although the park entrance is closed at this point, the visitor center comes through with indoor bathrooms available. From this visitor center, there are a lot of trails that emanate into various parts of the southwestern part of the park. Today, we opted for the main entrance road, which is not snow plowed beyond the visitor center. It’s perfect for hiking boots but you can also get away with wearing snow shoes. I saw some cross-country ski tracks as well, so something for everyone. What I liked about this route vs a wilderness trail, was that it was easy to walk and had lots of great views. One for instance is the bubbling sulfur pit just past the bridge on the left. The volcanic vent area is prevalent here and you can tell from the lack of snow in this area. You are standing on an active (but dormant) volcano, after all! We took the entrance road a couple miles up, and back to make just about 5 miles. We’ll try to come back when the visitor center is staffed to grab a holiday ornament or other park-themed item. Good for kids, and the slightly mature audience and anyone in between. Word of caution: sledding is (to most responsible people) absolutely dangerous around these particular slopes because of the terrain that’s mostly unknown. I saw a few families with little ones sledding on slopes that I wouldn’t let my teenage kids walk down. Please be careful and make good decisions when wandering in the snow to sled or otherwise.