Exploring the West Coast’s 'Ring of Fire' and other western bucket list trips

Wizard Island, Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park.
Wizard Island, Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park.

Another likely year of the variant: will this life-threatening cycle ever end?

The omicron and delta variants are portending closures of indoor activities, large public gatherings and travel as we once knew it in the coming weeks. But we remain ever hopeful that modern medicine, vaccinated families and careful, preventative travel practices can yield safe travel in spring, summer and fall months ahead.

With that in mind, and, considering the pent-up travel demands among our citizens, let’s consider several “once in a lifetime” trips that can be — and should be — planned well in advance.

Trees stripped bare in Mount St. Helens National Monument.
Trees stripped bare in Mount St. Helens National Monument.

I’ll start with a western “ring of fire“ trip that should be appealing to all members of the family. The trip takes in active and former volcanoes, spectacular scenery and will lead you to parks that experience fewer visitors, normally, than some of the more widely-known national parks. Such a trip can be done by private auto, either camping or motel overnights, and accomplished in one long meandering road trip, or broken into several pieces and done over multiple outings.

Here are noteworthy destinations, running from south to north:

First destination, a lovely place in its own right, is Pinnacles National Park, three hours southwest of San Joaquin County, just south of Hollister.

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Pinnacles, in the California coastal mountains with a temperate climate, is great for visits year-round. The park presents the remains of a volcano birthed just outside of Los Angeles, steadily moving northward several inches a year on the San Andreas Fault.

One of the lesser-visited national parks, Pinnacles has a lovely, shaded campground, complete with store and swimming pool, and access to marvelous hiking opportunities with likely chance to see huge California condors circling the thermal updrafts above the volcanic remains. Several hikes feature opportunities to explore talus caves, so bring flashlights or headlamps.

Bumpass Hell with Frying Pan Spring in foreground Lassen Volcanic national park.
Bumpass Hell with Frying Pan Spring in foreground Lassen Volcanic national park.

Looking north, our next destination is Lassen Volcanic National Park, formed about 27,000 years ago from a volcanic vent on the flank of Brokeoff volcano (which is about a half million years old), resulting in one of the world’s largest plug dome volcanoes, rising to 10,457 feet. The volcano rumbled into world view when massive eruptions in 1915 and 1916 blew the rim of the volcano eastward, blasting boulders the size of buses for miles. The visitor center explains the four types of volcanoes found throughout the world, all of which can be found within the park. Those include composite volcanoes (Brokeoff Volcano), plug dome (Mt. Lassen), shield (Prospect Peak) and cinder cone (Cinder Cone).

The 32 mile drive through the park offers a wealth of interesting points-of-interest, including the Sulfur Works, Bumpass Hell, with hot springs and mud pots similar to Yellowstone, the Lassen Peak trailhead (requiring a 2,000-plus foot ascent of the peak) and the Devastated Area, which was leveled by the volcanic explosion, covered with pumice, ash and mudflows and littered with huge boulders blasted off Lassen three miles away. The park is interlaced with 150 miles of trails including 18 miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. Visitors can find three campgrounds, Manzanita Lake, Summit Lake North and South.

Mount Saint Helens looms over Spirit Lake in the national monument.
Mount Saint Helens looms over Spirit Lake in the national monument.

Exploring further north, Mt. Shasta is our next stop, revered by Native Americans and still volcanically active, as mountain climbers can find thermal vents emitting steam and gases near the top of this 14,180-foot majestic peak. You’ll find a number of camping options in the Mt. Shasta area, and cozy motels in slope-side towns like Mt. Shasta (also find the headwaters of the Sacramento River, emerging from a major spring in Mt. Shasta City Park) and McCloud.

Crossing the border into Oregon, serious volcanologists will find a number of volcanic peaks along the spine of the Cascade Mountains. We’re headed to Crater Lake National Park, where the ancient Mt. Mazama volcano collapsed into itself 7,700 years ago, leaving the crater filled 1,400 feet deep with the most azure of blue waters. Circle the 33 mile Rim Drive, with a stop at historic Crater Lake Lodge, for memorable views. Mazama Campground is just below Rim Drive.

Proceeding ever northward, you’ll see lofty Mount Hood in Oregon, and, across the mighty Columbia river, spot towering Mt. Adams volcano in the state of Washington. Our destination is Mount St. Helens National Monument, just northeast of Portland, Oregon, and possibly the most evocative of all our stops. Mount St. Helens, giving warnings of an eruption for months in advance, thundered to life with a huge eruption in May 1980, blowing 1,300 feet off the top of the volcano, killing more than 50 people and leveling thousands of trees. The monument offers poignant reminders of the changes rent by the volcano, and the lives lost.

Bear Gulch Canyon in Pinnacles National Park.
Bear Gulch Canyon in Pinnacles National Park.

Distance of such a trip from San Joaquin County to Pinnacles, then north to Lassen, Shasta, Crater Lake and further north to reach Mount Saint Helens will yield roughly 2,100 miles, round-trip, which can be done in 10 days.

Other “bucket list trips” in the west would include a journey to take in all five Utah national parks (also, include the north rim, Grand Canyon), or Montana and Wyoming’s jaw-dropping parks of Glacier, Yellowstone and Tetons. Begin to plan now, for these are popular destinations!

For more information: For national parks, nps.gov; and check local visitors bureaus for nearby city insight.

Write Tim at Tviall@msn.com; happy travels in the west!

This article originally appeared on The Record: Add the West Coast's 'Ring of Fire' to your travel bucket list