On our Paradise Meadow field trip in Lassen Volcanic National Park, we once again escaped the valley heat and had cool weather—it was only 77 °F at 3 PM at Lassen, while it was over 100 °F in Redding. Combined with scattered clouds, this made for a very pleasant day for the seven of us who hiked to the meadow. Paradise Meadow is one of the most lush and beautiful meadows in the Park, brim-full of an amazing variety of blooming plants.
The trail up to Paradise Meadow always provides a show of blooming wildflowers, even in late summer. The trail is a little steep in parts: it climbs ~600 feet in elevation over the ~1.3 miles to the meadow, for a round trip of ~2.6-miles. Starting from the Hat Creek Trailhead parking area, the trail is lined with white and red fir, western white pine, lodgepole pine, and mountain hemlock. In the understory were columbine, Jacob’s ladder, monkey-flowers, alpine asters, and many other wildflowers, shrubs, and ferns.
© 2023 Doug Mandel.
After some time enjoying the meadow, four of us decided to hike an additional ½ mile up Paradise Meadow Trail to get more exercise and to see different habitat. Leaving the shaded canopy next to Hat Creek, we came to a more open area that has little organic topsoil and is dominated by conifers and low-growing pinemat manzanita, and many slender penstemon.
This is a nice trail anytime after the snow has melted, and you will find a few wildflowers even into early fall. The trail can have quite a few people on it during morning and mid-day, but after 5 or 6 PM you will have the trail to yourself.
Here’s a slide show that features many of the beautiful wildflowers that we saw. All photos © 2023 Doug Mandel. Enjoy! ~David Ledger
