MINERAL, Calif. — The Drakesbad Guest Lodge and Warner Valley Campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, will remain closed for the 2024 season due to ongoing repairs from the 2021 Dixie Fire. The Warner Valley Day-Use Area remains open, and visitors can access all trails there.
The damage to the guest lodge and campground is extensive, and repairs have taken longer than expected. Park leadership and Snow Mountain LLC, the park’s concessions operator, have agreed to postpone the planned reopening of these sites so that the ongoing work does not negatively impact visitors.
The National Park Service and Snow Mountain LLC have been working together to restore this area and open it to park visitors as quickly as possible. The partnership between the park and the concessions operator will position both to provide an improved guest experience in 2025.
After the Dixie Fire, the lodge pool suffered further damage from a flood in 2021 and had to be removed. Restoring the pool is a separate project from the other construction at Drakesbad and is being addressed by the park and Snow Mountain LLC. The pool will likely reopen later than the other areas of Drakesbad.
Last year, record snowfall hampered the teams’ access to the Drakesbad Guest Ranch. Once it was accessible, Snow Mountain’s work focused on rebuilding and repairing cabins destroyed or damaged by the Dixie Fire. This year, Lassen Volcanic National Park staff are working to repair the water system and restore potable water to the ranch and campground.
The Warner Valley Day-Use Area and its associated trails are open. Trails in the Warner Valley area are largely free of snow and fallen trees, although hikers should use caution when traveling through burned areas because standing dead trees can fall without warning. Due to construction work, visitors to Warner Valley will likely experience increased vehicle and truck traffic along the entrance road. Current trail conditions can be accessed at www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/trail-conditions.htm.
The 2021 Dixie Fire footprint covers 69% of the park and nearly a million acres within the region. While there were some high-severity impacts, much of the park experienced low to moderate burn severity. Weather, firefighting efforts, and past fuel reduction helped to slow the fire’s progression through the park. To learn more about wildfire in Lassen Volcanic and to view a short video about the 2021 Dixie Fire, please visit go.nps.gov/lavo/wfire.
For additional information about Lassen Volcanic National Park, please visit us at nps.gov/lavo or on Facebook at facebook.com/LassenNPS, X at x.com/LassenNPS, and YouTube at youtube.com/LassenNPS.
