Mount Lassen National Park

Lassen Peak began as a volcanic vent on Mount Tehama's northern flank. Considered the world's largest plug dome volcano, it rises 2,000 feet to an elevation of 10,457 feet. The peaks lava came from many veins. Recent geological evidence indicates that Cinder Cone, also a volcano, erupted in the 18th century.

How do landscapes recover from volcanic eruptions? That question, asked anew since Mount Saint Helens erupted in 1980, has been answered for more than 70 years - since Lassen Peak quieted down.

The Devastated Area most visibly illustrates the slow but relentless return of Earth's green mantle of plants, but many areas of the park is important post-volcanism plant succession sites.

Both the Devastated Area, denuded by volcanic activity, and the Chaos Jumbles, denuded by an air-cushion avalanche, is recovering directly to conifers without preparation by herbaceous plants. This fact observed at Lassen corrects earlier theories. Many disturbed areas here are being reforested with young trees that are more varied than the mature forests that once stood on them. The apparent reason is lack of competition during the earlier stages of recovery. In the Chaos Jumbles, competition will eventually crowd out four of the eight conifer species presently recovering the area.