Play In The Snow at Lassen Volcanic National Park
Tucked up in northeastern California near the Nevada border is Lassen Volcanic National Park. While it doesn't get the hype that Yosemite gets, Lassen is its own unique wonder.
The centerpiece of the park is Lassen Peak, the world's largest plug dome volcano. The rest of the park is full of evidence of the churning hydrothermal activity happening deep below the surface, with boiling mud pots, scalding hot springs, and vents called fumaroles that allow steam to escape. It's also one of the few areas in the world where all four kinds of volcanoes can be found. Geologically, it's quite fantastic.
While roads through much of the park are closed for the winter, the National Park Service has temporarily opened a road from the northwest Manzanita Lake entrance. Visitors can drive the 10 miles to the park's Devastated Area, where two to three feet of snow has fallen. So bring your snow shoes, skis, sleds, blankets, hot cocoa, and whatever other materials you need in order to have yourselves a rollick in the powder. (Also, if you're not into snow, the 1.8-mile round trip hike around gorgeous Manzanita Lake, pictured above, is snow-free and open to visitors.)
Just be sure to check the park's current conditions before you go, as storms moving in the area can close down the road with little or no warning. If that's the case, though, you're only two hours away from Reno.
