Autumn on Lassen Road 17
Forest Route #17 on the west side of Lassen Park is a north-south, long dirt road that traverses 21 miles, outside of the National Park boundary. This is also called the Viola Mineral Road, connecting Highway 36 to Highway 44 in Northern California.
Lassen Road 17 is also known as #31N17 on the USDA maps. It is erroneously mislabeled within GoogleMaps and the FlickrMap (OpenStreetMap) system as road #31N45 FYI
GET A REAL MAP, for exploring unfamiliar forest roads.
Starting on the south end @ the Battle Creek bridge on Hwy 36, the road is well signed. Since it was starting to rain, I just did some quick exploring. The first 2-3 miles were mellow, with plenty of autumn colors and nice pull offs for primitive camping.
After that the road becomes rocky and steep, climbing in elevation - with no level spots, no easy turn around areas, nor any camping sites. There was a great view down to the paved highway below, but this part of the dirt road was frighteningly narrow & high. Basically driving up a cliff edge!
As soon as I began seeing snow on the road sides and I pulled over to let a truck pass, I decided it was best to turn my little AWD sportwagon around the next available chance I had - which was at least another mile uphill.
Next time I will drive the whole route and camp out up here.
Autumn on Lassen Road 17
Forest Route #17 on the west side of Lassen Park is a north-south, long dirt road that traverses 21 miles, outside of the National Park boundary. This is also called the Viola Mineral Road, connecting Highway 36 to Highway 44 in Northern California.
Lassen Road 17 is also known as #31N17 on the USDA maps. It is erroneously mislabeled within GoogleMaps and the FlickrMap (OpenStreetMap) system as road #31N45 FYI
GET A REAL MAP, for exploring unfamiliar forest roads.
Starting on the south end @ the Battle Creek bridge on Hwy 36, the road is well signed. Since it was starting to rain, I just did some quick exploring. The first 2-3 miles were mellow, with plenty of autumn colors and nice pull offs for primitive camping.
After that the road becomes rocky and steep, climbing in elevation - with no level spots, no easy turn around areas, nor any camping sites. There was a great view down to the paved highway below, but this part of the dirt road was frighteningly narrow & high. Basically driving up a cliff edge!
As soon as I began seeing snow on the road sides and I pulled over to let a truck pass, I decided it was best to turn my little AWD sportwagon around the next available chance I had - which was at least another mile uphill.
Next time I will drive the whole route and camp out up here.