NPS photo Highway 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park is known as the official park highway. This 30-mile stretch traverses avalanche-prone slopes with up to 2,000 foot drops and can hold a snowpack up to 40 feet deep. The road closes due to snow in the fall. Snow clearing operations usually begin as early as late March and continues for about two months before the highway is entirely open. Once a section of road is cleared, it remains closed to vehicles until the last layer of snow and ice melts and all road preparations (e.g. signs, shoulder grading, parking areas) are complete. Visitors can hike or bike any cleared section of the road before it opens to vehicles. Current Road StatusCurrent road closures are posted as alerts to the top of every page. If there is no active closure alert, then the park road is fully open. All alerts are also listed on our Alerts & Conditions page. Annual Road Clearing Operator Log Spring road clearing operations have not started yet.
6/20/2024 - The park highway is open to vehicle traffic! Drive safe and enjoy the park. 6/13/2024 - The remaining section of the road has been cleared! Note, that does not mean that it is open for through travel just yet! This is a good opprtunity for bicyclists to ride through the park! Link to learn more about hiking and biking the park road! Also, pets are permitted on roads and paved areas. 6/7/2024 - The road from the southwest entrance is now open to vehicles to the Bumpass Hell Parking lot. A reminder, several feet of snow covers the trail to Bumpass Hell. A trail closure is in place until snow melt allows for safe hiking conditions. 6/6/2024 - Great progress was made this week! We reached about two miles north of the Lassen Peak parking lot. There is about 6 miles remaining of road to be cleared. The blower is needing repair to continue clearing on Monday. 5/30/2024 - The crew made it to the road's highpoint at the base of Lassen Peak! About 11 feet of snow is in the area. Next week, we will be on the downhill! While this is great progress, there is still about 9 miles of the road remaining to be cleared. 5/24/2024 - The week ended at the Lake Helen sidehill. That is just before the road's high point at the base of Lassen Peak which is at 8500 feet in elevation. There is currently 12 feet of snow there. In addition, clearing has continued from the north, heading south. Cal Trans plows have reached Summit Lake. There are about 10 miles of the road remaining to be cleared. 5/16/2024 - We ended the week at Emerald Lake. We were hopeful in reaching the Bumpass Hell Parking lot, but the blower broke down. We will need to take Monday to repair it and continue with clearing on Tuesday. 5/12/2024 - One mile from the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center to Sulphur Works is open to vehicles. 5/11/2024 - Clearing progress has been eventful this past week. The road from the south has been cleared to the Diamond Peak elevaton sign. In addition, the road from the northwest entrance has been opened to Devastated Area for vehicles! This is always the first section of the road to open to vehicles in the season. It opened later this year due to late season snowstorms. Caltrans is asstisting us with continued clearing from Devastated Area and is currently at the Dersch Meadows, just about a mile south of Summit Lake. 5/2/2024 - We ended the work week just below Diamond Sidehill (~ 3 miles). We are moving the equipment back to the southwest entrance due to a forecast snowstorm. Monday will be a catch up day to remove new snow from the cleared section of road. 5/2/2024 supplemental - Some final preparations need to be completed prior to opening the road from the northwest entrance to the Devastated Area. There are identified trees that pose a hazard of falling across the road that will need to be removed and some final snowclearing in the Devastated Area parking lot. This section of the road is anticiapated to open in the mid-May timeframe. In the meantime, road operations began from the southwest park entrance on Tuesday, April. 30. 4/26/2024 - Clearing the Warner Valley Road was the focus this week. Cearing this road allows staff access to the area to begin preparations for summer.This road will likey remain closed to vehicles as these preparations take place. Mobilization efforts have begun for clearing to begin at the park's southwest entrance. This will start next week at some point. Downed equipment has hampered efforts to move progress forward more efficiently, but the team is making every effort to meet milestones and get the road opened up asap despite these challenges. Also at the start of next week, we will look at opeing the cleared section from the northwest entrance to the Devastated Area. Some final preparations clearing snow to walkway of the restrooms in the parking area and the restrooms need to be addressed. Stay tuned... 4/19/2024 - The road crew reached the Devastated Area parking lot (10 miles) at the end of this week. The parking area there and some additional clean-up of the road still needs to be completed before it can open to vehicles. In the meantime, hikers and bikers can enjoy this ten-mile section of the cleared road without vehicles. Also, it's a great opportunity to walk your leashed dog. Remember to protect Lassen Volcanic, only paws on pavement. The crew plans to begin on the park section of the Warner Valley Road on Monday. We hope to have it complete by week's end before starting clearing from the southwest park entrance. 4/15/2024 - We have about one week of clearing to do to complete the 10-mile section to Devastated Area from the gate at the northwest. Continuing April snowstorms and equipment repairs delayed road clearing progress. However, its looking like clearing from the southwest entrance at Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center can be initiated starting the week of April 29, weather depending. We were able to complete snow removal on the Butte Lake Road to one lane to protect the shoulders of the dirt surface. If driving this road, use caution, as there are large areas of muddy sections. The Manzanita Lake Campground Road and campground loops are cleared of snow. However, the boat launch and road remain closed. Upon melting of the snow at the launch and on the lake, it will open. 4/11/2024 - Road clearing from the northwest at Loomis Plaza only reached Sunflower Flat (~2 miles). A change in plans was necessary, halting clearing to Devastated Area due to a few snow storms and needed equipment maintenance. Equipment is back and ready to continue to the Devastaed Area starting Monday, April 15. 3/18/2024 - Road clearing equipment has been staged at the Northwest entrance and clearing opearations began from the closure at the Loomis Plaza. The road crew is hopeful that clearing will conclude at the Devastated Area (10 miles) on Thursday, March 21 before moivng on to begin clearing from the southwest entrance. Clearing will begin at the southwest entrance to begin as conditions permit. Clearing also begun on the park's unimproved road to Butte Lake. 
NPS photo Order of OperationsRoad crews begin clearing snow from the park highway in March or April, depending on snow depth and weather forecasts, and follow this order of operations:
Delays and other ConsiderationsClearing the park highway is no quick or easy undertaking! Snow depth can reach up to 30 feet at the highest elevations, with drifts occasionally reach as high as 40 feet. Spring clearing schedules and opening dates vary from year to year and cannot be predicted. The factors involved in this time-consuming annual process include:
Road Opening and Closing Dates, 1980 to Present* Closing date refers to date the park highway officially closed for the year. The road may temporarily close earlier for lighter snowfalls.
Outlying Park AreasThe park may also plow snow from Butte Lake, Warner Valley, or Juniper Lake roads, depending on the spring snow depth. The paved sections of Warner Valley and Juniper Lake roads are maintained by Plumas County and are usually not plowed. Relevant Information
Park Map
Explore the digital park map, including facilities, trails, and features. 
Directions & Getting Around
Get directions to the park, navigating through the park, and driving around the park when the road closes in winter. 
Weather
Find specific forecast information for different parts of the park and related links. 
Snowpack
Why is Lassen's snowpack important, how is it measured, and why? 
Webcams
See what the park currently looks like though continuously updating webcams. 
Visiting in Winter
Winter is a season of snow and solitude. Vehicle access is limited, but over-the-snow adventure is seemingly endless. 
Oversnow Route Conditions
November to May, learn about conditions on oversnow routes in the park. 
Hike and Bike the Highway
During spring snow clearing operations, the park road opens to hiking and biking before it opens to vehicles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Last updated: September 17, 2024