Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway

The 500-mile Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway is in both California and Oregon and would take days to explore. The Byway is broken into several regions with enlarged maps, starting at the south at California's Lassen Volcanic National Park and traveling north to Crater Lake National Park. You can begin your journey anywhere along the Byway and visit as many sites as you have time. Just follow the byway signs on the highways. If you plan to fly and rent a car, Medford, Oregon, and Redding, California, are the closest commercial airports.

Most communities and counties have Chambers of Commerce or Visitor Bureaus to research your options for lodging and dining or to find community services. The California Welcome Center/Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association in Anderson, the Collier Visitor Center at Colliers' Rest stop north of Yreka on the Klamath River, the Oregon Welcome Center in Midland, and Discover Klamath in Klamath Falls, Oregon are the Byway's four major centers for visitor information about the byway region.

The Byway produced a beautiful full-color brochure that is available at the key tourism information centers along the Byway. In addition, three destination marketing organizations have websites and social media information to help guide you along the Byway and through the region. Their websites and contact information are listed throughout the guide in each region. From south to north here are their websites, Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association ( https://www.shastacascade.com/ based in Anderson, CA), Discover Siskiyou ( https://discoversiskiyou.com/ based in Yreka, CA) and based in Klamath Falls is Discover Siskiyou ( https://discoverklamath.com/ ).

The California and Oregon Volcanic Legacy All-American Road corridor reaches the Oregon/California border via Highway 97, three miles north of the town of Dorris. From this point, you can choose to go east toward the Modoc section of the byway, or south on the Shasta section, continuing to the Lassen section.

Modoc Section
From Highway 97, head east on Highway 161 for 20 miles, past the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge to Highway 139. From that junction, head southwest. You are at the beginning of the Modec Section. From the junction of Highways 161and 139, head south for 3.5 miles to Tulelake. Road becomes Main Street. Turn west at East-West Road for 4.4 miles to Hill Road. Head south for 18.9 miles, past the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Take Main Monument Park Road east for 8 miles to Lava Beds National Monument Visitor Center. This ends this leg of the byway.

Shasta Section
From the California/Oregon border take Highway 97 through the Klamath National Forest, Butte Valley National Grasslands, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and Mt Shasta Wilderness until the junction with I95. Continue south from Weed to Highway 89, taking it east then curving south to the Lassen National Forest.

Lassen Section
Route takes two alternative routes, but they converge at the town of Chester. Continue on Highways 36/147 or 89/147 then taking Highway 147 to Highway 36 at Westwood and then Highway 44 to Old Station. This ends this leg.