Drakesbad Lodge and Warner Valley Campground remain closed for 2024 season

News Release Date:
July 18, 2024

Contact:Roseann Worley, 530-595-6101

The Drakesbad Guest Lodge and Warner Valley Campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park will remain closed for the 2024 season due to ongoing repairs from the 2021 Dixie Fire. The Warner Valley Day-Use Area remains open to the public and visitors to Warner Valley can access all trails there.

Damage to the guest lodge and campground is extensive and repairs have taken longer than expected. Park leadership and the park's concessions operator, Snow Mountain LLC, have agreed to postpone the planned reopening of these sites so that visitors are not negatively impacted by the ongoing work.

Both the National Park Service and Snow Mountain LLC have been working together to restore this area and open it to park visitors as quickly as possible. The partnership between the park and the concessions operator will position both to provide an improved guest experience in 2025.

After the Dixie Fire, the lodge pool suffered further damage from a flood in 2021 and had to be removed. Restoring the pool is a separate project from the other construction at Drakesbad and is being addressed by the park and Snow Mountain LLC. The pool will likely reopen later than the other areas of Drakesbad.

Last year, record snowfall hampered the teams' ability to access the Drakesbad Guest Ranch. Once it was accessible, Snow Mountain's work focused on the rebuilding and repair of cabins that had been destroyed or damaged by the Dixie Fire. This year, staff from Lassen Volcanic National Park are working to repair the water system and restore potable water to the ranch and campground.

The Warner Valley Day-Use Area and its associated trails are open. Trails in the Warner Valley area are largely free of snow and fallen trees, although hikers should use caution when travelling through burned areas because standing dead trees can fall without warning. Visitors to Warner Valley will likely experience increased vehicle and truck traffic along the entrance road due to construction work. Current trail conditions can be accessed at www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/trail-conditions.htm.

The 2021 Dixie Fire footprint covers 69% of the park and nearly a million acres within the region. While there were some high severity impacts, much of the park experienced low to moderate burn severity. Weather, firefighting efforts, and past fuel reduction helped to slow the fire's progression through the park. To learn more about wildfire in Lassen Volcanic, and to view a short video about the 2021 Dixie Fire, please visit go.nps.gov/lavo/wfire.

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