There is a stretch of wild, volcanic terrain about two hours north of Redding that most people drive right past on their way to somewhere else. That is their loss — and, quietly, your gain. Medicine Lake Highlands and the adjacent Lava Beds National Monument sit at the edge of the Modoc Plateau, a landscape so geologically dramatic and so thoroughly itself that the first time you set eyes on it, you genuinely wonder how it isn’t on every traveler’s bucket list in the American West.
I made the drive up Highway 89 on a clear September morning, the pine-covered flanks of the Cascade Range rolling past my windows as the road climbed toward the caldera. Medicine Lake itself — a glassy, high-elevation lake sitting inside an ancient shield volcano — greeted me with a stillness that felt almost theatrical. The water reflects the sky like polished obsidian, and the surrounding forest of white fir and lodgepole pine gives the whole scene a hushed, cathedral quality. Swimmers and anglers come here in summer when the campground at Medicine Lake Campground fills up with families who know exactly what they have found. You can spend an entire afternoon drifting in that cold, clear water with virtually no crowds and no noise except the occasional osprey.
But the real showstopper is just a short drive further: Lava Beds National Monument. This place is unlike anywhere else in California. Formed by eruptions from the Medicine Lake Volcano over the past half-million years, the monument contains more than 800 lava tube caves — the highest concentration anywhere in the continental United States. The park loans you a hard hat and a flashlight at the visitor center, and then sends you off on your own into a subterranean world of cooled basalt, glittering mineral formations, and absolute silence. Mushpot Cave, right near the visitor center, is paved and lit, a perfect introduction. But step into Sentinel Cave or Catacombs Cave and you are navigating genuine wilderness underground, scrambling through passages that feel like something out of an explorer’s journal.
Above ground, the monument’s rugged lava flows stretch toward the horizon in shades of rust, charcoal, and amber. The Schonchin Butte Trail rewards a moderate two-mile round-trip hike with panoramic views across the high desert and a restored 1930s fire lookout tower at the summit. On clear days you can see Mount Shasta rising to the southwest, almost impossibly white against the sky.
History runs deep here too. The Modoc War of 1872 to 1873 was fought across these very lava beds, and the monument preserves the battlefield sites with thoughtful interpretive signage that puts the conflict and the Modoc people’s story into honest, respectful context. Captain Jack’s Stronghold, a natural lava fortress where a small band of Modoc warriors held off the U.S. Army for months, is accessible by a short walking trail and is genuinely moving to visit.
Wildlife is abundant and surprisingly easy to spot. Mule deer graze the meadow edges at dusk, pronghorn occasionally cross the open flats, and the birding is extraordinary — white pelicans, sandhill cranes, and raptors of every description move through the region on Pacific Flyway migration routes.
Plan to stay at least one night. The Medicine Lake Campground and the Lava Beds Indian Well Campground both offer primitive but pleasant sites, and sleeping under that high-elevation sky, far from any city glow, is an experience that resets something in you. From Redding, the drive is straightforward and scenic — north on Interstate 5 to Mount Shasta City, then east on Highway 89 toward Bartle, and south on Forest Road 49. Give yourself a full weekend and arrive with sturdy shoes, extra layers, a good headlamp, and an appetite for a landscape that plays by its own rules entirely.
