UPDATED! Labor Day Weekend - Blue Lake - Camping, Hiking, Kayaking, Biking etc.

UPDATE! With Report from our 8/23 Recon Event, see new photos and see below.

Again we have a large group campsite in the remote South Warner Mountains reserved Friday thru Monday, Labor Day Weekend 2025. Meet at uncrowded and secluded Blue Lake Campground in Northern Lassen County, in the Modoc National Forest, for fun Labor Day Weekend adventures around the lake including camping, with options of hiking, kayaking, biking, fishing, and more. Elevation is about 6,000 ft. Get there when you can and leave when you wish. We will be pretty unstructured. Please bring $30 cash or check per vehicle to contribute to the group campground fees. The group campsite is well suited to tents, and RVs up to mid-sized.

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/The-beauty-of-Blue-Lake-is-well-worth-the-long-2605745.php

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/modoc/recarea/?recid=71258

To reach Blue Lake Campground, you travel up Highway 395 to the small town of Likely, then turn right off 395 just before the General Store on the paved road that leads East. In about ten miles the paved road will fork, and you continue right, SE, following the sign for Blue Lake. Stay on the paved road until you hit Blue Lake and the campground, about 8 more miles.

Considering the amenities and scenery, it is one of the less crowded campgrounds in the state. There is also some dispersed camping available in the National Forest away from the Campground. There is a nice hiking trail that circumnavigates the lake, and there is good hiking up and down Parsnip Creek above and below the Lake. Well graded gravel roads lead to nice places off of the paved road and make for great bicycling. The lake is renowned for trout fishing and is well suited to kayaking.

8/23 RECON EVENT Hat Mtn update! There are some great dayhikes on trails the general area around Blue Lake, including trails to the north at Mill Creek Falls/Clear Lake, and farther north, ultra scenic Pine Creek Basin. Another challenging possibility is exploring around Lassen Co. high point, Hat Mtn, and below it, Lost Lake. See just below, see our Recon scouting event report on Hat Mtn and Lost Lake feasibility.

Three photos I just added to the Photos section help sum up the Recon report! An added photo shows my Honda SxS at the end of the Camp-One cow camp road, where we parked to hike off trail. Three of us, myself, Gale & Matt hiked off-trail down the steep, difficult, descent to Lost Lake. There I explored the stream up and down from Lost Lake, while Matt and Gale began their climb of Hat Mtn. The SxS photo was taken of Gale and Matt, Hat Mtn before them, after we finished the hike; in it they are recapping their arduous routes. Matt & Gale heroically, with crazy persistence, reached the Hat Mtn summit! While they did the ascent, I remained, entranced, at beautiful Lost Lake; I explored up and down the watershed of the lake inlet & outlet streams, also looking at excellent campsites! No other people present anywhere around!

The second added photo shows beautiful Lost Lake, where Gale and Matt began their Hat Mtn ascent behind where the photo was taken. The third added photo, lots of green leaves, shows Gale and Matt, shows their hats anyway, as we descended from the SxS off-trail down to Lost Lake through nearly impenetrable aspen thickets, rocks, deadfall for 600+ steep vertical ft. They reported similar conditions in their ascent of 1500 vertical ft up and down Hat Mtn.

In a nutshell, the Lost Lake to Hat Mtn ascent and descent was definitely strenuous with steep inclines, some traverse of boulder fields and occasional bushwacking thru dense vegetation for heroic Matt & Gale! The top slope of the mountain was, thankfully, less steep but still scattered predominantly with varying sized rocks all across the surface.The Camp-One descent and ascent to Lost Lake was similarly challenging as we strove to follow the GPS and searched for hints of trails that might lead us to and from the lake. BUT, Lost Lake was beautiful with great potential for camping, hiking, and fishing. Trout were numerous, and were jumping during my entire visit.

See the Photos section of this event post for more photos and maps.

There is a nice little general store at Likely on Highway 395 right where you turn off 395 and head East on the paved road to Blue Lake. The store has gas pumps, but they are only operative when the store is open, and hours are quite limited. It is best to top off with gas in Susanville or wherever you can, and if the Likely store is open, you can top off again there.

Likely, CA on 395 is about 85 mi N of Susanville. When you reach Likely, you take the paved road East that starts immediately S of the general store. There are few paved roads in the region, but the road is paved to the Campground. Watch for Blue Lake signs on the paved road, especially where the paved road forks when you reach Jess Valley, the big meadow, and there you take the right, South, fork. The Campground is about 18 mi from Likely.

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