Lava Beds — Cave Loop & Mushpot
Lava Beds National Monument · near Tulelake · Shasta Cascade
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 2 miles
- Elevation gain
- 150 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Year-round · Caves are a stable ~55°F; summer surface heat makes caving especially appealing
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- ~$25/vehicle 7-day entrance fee plus a FREE cave screening/permit at the visitor center (White-Nose Syndrome bat protection — gear that's been in other caves must be screened; bring clean gear). Every cave needs a headlamp + backup light. Dogs prohibited in caves and on trails.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Densest accessible lava-tube caves in North America · Mushpot (lit interpretive starter cave) · Golden Dome, Sunshine, Skull Cave · Ceiling 'lavacicles'
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Do Mushpot first to calibrate, and bring a proper headlamp per person (phone lights are useless underground). Never touch cave walls (bats/WNS), and follow the decontamination rules. Bring a jacket even in July.
The guide
This is the reason Lava Beds is marquee: the densest concentration of accessible lava-tube caves in North America, most of them…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lava Beds — Cave Loop & Mushpot — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 41.7143, -121.5083