Sulphur Works is a 0.6 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Old Station, California that features a great forest setting and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for walking and nature trips and is accessible year-round.
wheelchair friendly
kid friendly
stroller friendly
nature trips
walking
forest
views
no dogs
I came to this Sulphur Works again ( 11/17/2019) since I visited the park. No need to hike, just park your car in the parking lot, walk up for few hundred feet and you are there. I love to see hot mud still active. Smoke and smell up to the air at one, I don’t know how hot or warm of the liquid in the pool, I was here last year in summer and the smell of the pool so bad, I think fall season the pool smell must better. I will stop here again when I come back to this park.
Not really a hike... just right off the road. Still a cool sight to see
I hiked the full mile up to the lake, which was quite uphill. If you're looking to conserve energy/time don't hike all that way up (nothing special about the lake up there), but only up to the point where you see a little boiling pond to the right, then back down to the parking lot and across the bridge to the boiling mudpot which was the most impressive active feature I got to see up close. Bumpass hell active features are quite far (I presume for safety), so I wouldn't skip coming here to get a good close look at that boiling mudpot.
This gets a 4... as a road stop to see close volcanic features. No real trail! See below for trail definition. Photo op, look at mud pits for 15 min, then go on to the real hiking.
Charles T.
Sulfur Works are the volcanic features along Highway 89 (Lassen Peak Highway) and not the trail profiled and shown on the map. What is shown is actually the first 0.6 mile of the Ridge Trail which is a moderatly difficult trail. If a real hike is what you are looking for, I recommend you check that trail out and hike all the way up to Ridge Lakes.
I have no idea what people like about this park, and what got it a 5 star rating overall from almost 2k reviews. We wasted the 4th of July long weekend by going there. The park is very far from any accommodation, and only after you get there they tell you that their website is telling a half truth when it says the trails are open.. they are technically open but you have to have snow gear to be able to trek on 4-20 feet deep snow.. melting on sloping trails!! The Sulphur Works is fine but just a quick stop is all what you can do there. The Cinder Cone is in another part of the park that is another hour drive (and back), and the Devil's Kitchen/Boiling Spring Lake/Terminal Geyser trails are in yet a third part of the park that you can only reach by driving on a dirt road after 2 hours of driving around the park in narrow roads with no cell coverage (limited mobile phone GPS). All in all it was a weekend of driving, from San Jose up to the closest place where we could find accommodation (redding), the. In and around the park. Totally NOT worth it.
Facinating.
Awesome mud pots
No hiking, just walking from your car. A wheelchair would have noooo problem. The boiling mud pit is impressive to say the least and its only about 2 feet from the sidewalk! I saw an elderly woman at the fence near it get blasted with a burst of sulphuric steam and she had to jump back into the road to avoid getting scorched. Her glasses were completely fogged and her hair was damp. Must've smelled great. Be careful.
No actual trail, a short walk from the parking lot gets you up close with the mudpots. Educational experience for the kids and adults too. Due to Bumpass Hell being closed for repairs this short walk has a great alternative to seeing the mudpots in the area. Easy enough for kids and even witnessed a person in a wheelchair doing the walkway. The sulfur smell isn’t as bad as some say and didn’t bother me, but bothered my husband. Great short walk and would definitely return again in the future
Very short hike sulfur beds interesting
As others have mentioned, this is a walk near the parking area with some nice informative exhibits and an up close and personal taste [and smell] of volcanic mud pots and ecosystem impacts. Worth a stop.
furthest point allowed to drive to as of 6/11/17... you can walk the rest of the road bed but undrivable until trees and rocks are removed... i walked about 2 miles up to near Bumpass Hell... pretty sure any offroad hiking must use snowshoes as there is still many feet of snow pack
Right now it's covered in snow. But super cool mile walk from the visitor center. Definitely worth another visit in the summer to experience the full glory of Lassen.
No hiking, just park and walk to get a whiff of some pure, natural sulfur right in your face. Memorable experience.
Not a trail but a cool view point!
Fun for the kids. No hike involved.
Right on the road- no hiking needed.
There is no longer a trail here! You can view part of it from the sidewalk next to the road, but the boardwalk (trail) is no longer usable (erosion or geothermal activity). I hope it gets rebuilt some day! You can still view some boiling mud-pots or fumaroles. It's worth a stop.
