It’s relatively easy to get to remote Blue Lake on the outskirts of Lassen Volcanic National Park. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

I can tell you about hiking to Blue Lake, but I can’t tell you exactly how to get there.

The latter is partly because I wasn’t driving, I’d never been there and road signs seemed to be non-existent.

Good thing Sally was driving and had been there several times.

Sally, Eve, Sophie and Kae at Blue Lake in August. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Sophie, Eve and I joined her for a girls weekend last month at her cabin in Mill Creek on the outskirts of Lassen National Volcanic Park, with one activity being a hike.

I know we drove by Wilson Lake and were on a road with the same name, made a left at a four-way without obvious signs to me, drove several miles on a dirt road before parking on the right in a cut out wide enough for about four vehicles. The trailhead started across the street where what looks like a homemade sign says Blue Lake.

With ferns being some of the first plant life, I knew water was nearby. It seemed like within seconds we came across a little waterfall. We stopped at it on the way back to admire its beauty.

The trail makes a steady climb up, but nothing strenuous. In fact, this hike is pretty darn easy. It was the perfect amount on this particular day.

At times we walked through tall, blonde grasses that could have been wild rye that seemed to reach my shoulders. Other times it was looming conifers that towered about us.

While fire can be devastating, it can leave behind what looks like art. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

We skirted by Duck Lake on the right, but it wasn’t inviting enough to have us take a detour.

While this wasn’t the time of year for much in the way of wildflowers, plenty of plant life abounded. Tiny white flowers could be seen on the Russethair saxifrage. Wild buckwheat, drooping brome and penstemon were some of the flora.

Fire has ravaged these woods in the last several years. So much of Lassen Park was torched by the Dixie Fire in 2021, while Sally’s cabin and all of Mill Creek narrowly escaped the flames of the 2024 Park Fire.

Little water spills from the falls at the start of the Blue Lake trail in late August. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

The lake was the perfect spot for lunch. Sally was the only one brave enough to go swimming. I’m wussy when it comes to cold water, though surprisingly this was warmer than Lake Tahoe and the Sierra lakes I am more accustomed to hiking to.

We did an out and back, having gone about halfway around the lake. It was about 3 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of 344 feet. The low point was 6,009 feet, with max elevation 6,355 feet.

Searching online it seems like it’s possible to do this as a round trip that would involve a trek to Spencer Meadows; that would have mileage closer to 7.5 miles. Parts of that trail are said to be sketchy in terms of some cross country/winging-it necessary.