Lava Beds National Monument

Lava Beds National Monument in northeastern California protects a vast volcanic landscape on Medicine Lake Volcano where the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade, and Great Basin regions meet. Established in 1925, it is renowned for North America’s largest concentration of lava tubes, along with cinder cones, pit craters, lava flows, and other volcanic features formed over a long eruptive history. The area also preserves major Native American history, including Petroglyph Point and Captain Jack’s Stronghold, where Kintpuash’s Modoc band resisted U.S. Army forces during the Modoc War of 1872–1873. Its protection was advanced by J. D. Howard, and it remains important for science, recreation, and distinctive desert and cave ecosystems.

California · United States