Lava Beds National Monument
California
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.1 h fully dark
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Entrance
$25
White-Nose Syndrome / Cave Permit
Please Do Not bring clothing or caving gear used in caves or mines outside of Lava Beds into our caves. This will help slow the spread of white-nose syndrome, a bat disease that is killing bats outside of the park.
Official NPS alert →Lava Beds National Monument is a land of turmoil, both geological and historical. Over the last half-million years, volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created a rugged landscape dotted with diverse volcanic features. More than 800 caves, Native American rock art sites, historic battlefields and campsites, and a high desert wilderness experience await you!
Activities
Topics
Entrance fees
$25.00 — Entrance - Private Vehicle
$20.00 — Entrance - Motorcycle
$15.00 — Entrance - Per Person
Hours & seasons
The park is open 24 hours a day, year-round. The visitor center is typically only closed on Christmas Day but will sometimes temporarily close in the winter due to weather or maintenance. Temporary closures are usually posted as an alert and/or on our social media. For visitor center hours please the Visitor Center section below.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 5306678113
✉ LABE_Information@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Mar, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 60°F
☀️ 94°/51°
☀️ 95°/64°
☀️ 100°/57°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
20%
Feb
29%
Mar
21%
Apr
33%
May
52%
Jun
86%
Jul
99%
Aug
100%
Sep
42%
Oct
36%
Nov
27%
Dec
22%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Live conditions
Visitor Center ↗active
Campgrounds
Group Campsite ↗ · 1 sites
Indian Well Campground · 43 sites · first-come
Visitor centers
Lava Beds Visitor Center
Accessibility
1 accessible campground(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Lava Beds National Monument — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
Passport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Lava Beds Visitor Center
Places to see
Attracted to Water
Balcony Cave
Big Nasty Trail Start, Tulelake, Ca
Big Painted Cave
Black Crater, Tulelake, Ca
Blue Grotto Cave
Boulevard Cave
Bunchgrass Overlook
Bunchgrass Trail Start, Tulelake, CA
Captain Jacks Stronghold Trail Start, Tulelake, Ca
Captain Jacks Stronghold, Tulelake, Ca
Catacombs Cave
Audio & media
Learn more
Humor is a form of commentary that often reveals serious truths. Cartoonists combine artistic talents with razor-sharp wits to shine light on political and social issues. In most cases, those artists are external observers. In the National Park Service (NPS), employees in the 1960s to 1980s drew cartoons, published in official newsletters, that provide unique insights into NPS organizational culture, working conditions, and employees' concerns—many of which still exist today.
Volcanologist Erika Rader's first thought about visual near-infrared spectroscopy equipment was, "I don't understand this and therefore I don't believe it works, but planetary scientists use it a lot so maybe I should give it a think." Soon after, she wanted to share the technology with others.
Curious about Actinobacteria in southern Oregon and northern California caves? Explore their natural history in this edition of our monthly “Featured Creature,” brought to you by the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network.
Curious about the American black bear in southern Oregon and northern California? Explore its natural history in this edition of our monthly “Featured Creature,” brought to you by the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network.
Curious about the Anna's hummingbird in southern Oregon and northern California? Explore its natural history in this edition of our monthly “Featured Creature,” brought to you by the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network.
Find out how Lava Beds National Monument is holding the line for bat conservation.
Bats and caves go together in people's minds. National Parks are home to many important bat caves. But, bats are particular. Many caves only contain a few bats. Some bats like certain caves for raising their young and other caves for winter hibernation. Other bats avoid caves entirely and sleep and raise their young in protected locations in trees and rocks outside.
Enjoy a fun activity and learn about caves even when you can't get out to a park. In this activity you will build your own cave and learn how to make it like a "real" natural cave. Find out about cave formations and wildlife, and how to be safe and care for caves. New "Blanket Cave National Youth Parks" are springing up all across America! Join the fun!
How Lava Beds National Monument connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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PassportStamp
Trail
Alert
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