Bumpass Trailhead — Attraction in Chester

Amazing experience!! We went on beginnings of October and it was SUPER COLD! Like 37 Degrees F, but to my surprise the parking lot was full with cars.. Nice parking lot, lots of space, and a nice clean bathroom. The hike is amazing, beautiful views and precipices, as well as the fresh pine tree air, I went when it was snowy and I don’t regret it. After a semi-long hike of ups and then downs, we got to the hot springs! They were amazing, the signs were really informative of where to step and where not to (to avoid injury). The hot springs were beautiful, and something I really appreciated was the little walkway that there is in the cold springs, really well maintained “plastic wood slab” walkway. If someone were to bring a stroller, it IS DOABLE with big wheels, a friend of mine did it with me and his little daughter in the stroller, we had to carry/lift the stroller a bit throughout the hike because there were rocks and steepish downhills.. but he made it all the way down to the hot-springs and back to the car.

Would totally recommend to...

This is probably the most popular hike in Lassen and is well worth your time. The whole trail is really beautiful with the alpine scenery and then the added bonus of a boardwalk through the geothermal features. The hike itself was harder for my family than I had thought it would be. Honestly, I saw many people on the trail struggling, wearing flip flops or just being so out of shape I do not think that they would make it all the way. Two of my girls stopped at the overlook to the Bumpass Hell area instead of walking down and then back up the steep trail, which is a fine way to see (and hear) the features without exerting the effort to go down and up. The boardwalk area is, however, very cool with all the hot water, steam, and the loud vents. Highly recommend! You can park across from Lake Helen and go up the trail from there, cutting off about .2 miles...

It's about 3 miles total round trip to the bumpass hell feature. It is a scenic hike, so it goes pretry fast. It is the most popular hike, so it can get crowded on the trail. It's slightly uphill the first half until you descend down to the boardwalks. That can be a little strenuous coming back up from the boardwalk area. Some of the trail was affected...