Subway Cave (Lava Tube)
Old Station, Lassen NF · near Old Station · Shasta Cascade
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 0.8 miles
- Elevation gain
- 30 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Late spring–fall · Cave and access typically snow-gated in winter
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- Lassen National Forest; free, no fee (unlike Lava Beds). Pitch-black — a headlamp or strong flashlight per person is essential. Leashed dogs allowed here.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Large walk-through lava tube (no crawling) · ~46°F year-round · Named features (Devil's Doorway) · Stairs at each end, beside the PCT
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- It is completely dark — a headlamp or strong flashlight per person is essential (there's no lighting). Bring a jacket; it's cold even on a 90°F day.
The guide
The easiest lava-tube adventure in the Shasta-Cascade — a broad, flat, walk-through tube you enter by one staircase and exit by…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Subway Cave (Lava Tube) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 40.6845, -121.4197