Hiking the Lily Pond Trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park
Distance: 0.8 miles / 1.3 km
The Lily Pond Trail, also called the Lily Pond Loop Trail or Lily Pond Interpretive Trail, in Lassen Volcanic National Park is a short and easy day hike near Manzanita Lake, where visitors can enjoy a mostly forested walk along both Reflection Lake and Lily Pond.
By this, I mean that the first 0.2 miles (0.3 km) of the hike follows the Reflection Lake Loop before branching away, making it a great easy adventure to enjoy both trails at once!
All this to say, I recommend making the Lily Pond Trail a first-thing-in-the-morning adventure because it’s easy to reach when driving into Lassen from the north, and choosing any trail to hike later in the day in the Manzanita Lake area is best reserved for the Manzanita Lake Loop Trail, largely because of the way Lassen Peak lights up just before sunset!
Lily Pond Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Lily Pond Trail is located at the Loomis Ranger Station and Museum, about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) up the road from the Manzanita Lake Entrance Station.
This is the same parking lot that serves all the trails around Manzanita Lake.
Google Maps Directions: Lily Pond Trailhead (Loomis Ranger Station)
Hiking Checklist - Lassen Volcanic
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
That said, bear spray is purposefully excluded from this list because, while the park is home to Black Bears, bear spray is not allowed in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Hiking the Lily Pond Trail
The Lily Pond Trail is located across Lassen Peak Highway from the parking area outside the Loomis Ranger Station, which is also the same trailhead for the loop around Reflection Lake.
That said, go right at the beginning of the Reflection Lake Trail to begin hiking toward both junctions that branch away for the hike around Lily Pond.
Read My Separate Post: Reflection Lake Trail
South Lily Pond-Reflection Lake Junction
Shortly after beginning the Reflection Lake Loop in the counterclockwise direction, the trail reaches the first of two junctions for the Lily Pond Trail.
At this first, I recommend continuing straight past to the second, as this junction, right next to the trailhead, makes for a better place to end the hike in my opinion.
Read My Separate Post: Reflection Lake Trail
North Lily Pond-Reflection Lake Junction
Just before the Reflection Lake Trail reaches the 0.2-mile (0.3 km) mark, the Lily Pond Loop branches away for the second time.
Once here, go right to begin the roughly 0.6-mile (1.0 km) Lily Pond Trail.
Read My Separate Post: Reflection Lake Trail
After the initial short hill, the Lily Pond Trail becomes much flatter for the majority of the hike around the loop.
Areas like this can be a bit muddy when the snow in Lassen Volcanic is melting during late spring and early summer months.
These numbers are exactly why the Lily Pond Trail is also called the Lily Pond Interpretive Trail, or Lily Pond Nature Trail.
That said, visitors can follow along with the numbers using the trail guide linked below, though the only publicly accessible guide that I could find is a bit dated.
Download: Lily Pond Trail Guide
Lily Pond
After about 0.4 miles (0.6 km), the loop reaches the north side of Lily Pond, the only side of the pond that is visible from the trail.
For those wondering, these lilies are the Great Yellow Pond-lily (Nuphar polysepala), which can be seen blooming throughout the warmer summer months in Lassen!
After Lily Pond, the loop follows a mostly flat, easy trail through a mixed Pine, Hemlock, and Douglas-fir forest back to the beginning at Reflection Lake.
These more exposed sections near the end are where I want to remind everyone to wear a good hooded sun shirt when hiking in Lassen Volcanic, especially on longer, higher-elevation hikes like the Lassen Peak Trail.
Lily Pond-Manzanita Lake Residence Junction
Shortly before the Lily Pond Loop Trail returns to Reflection Lake, the trail crosses over a service road for a private park residence built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
That said, go straight, and the initial Lily Pond junction at Reflection Lake will be found just a short distance ahead.
South Lily Pond-Reflection Lake Junction
This is where the Lily Pond Trail returns to Reflection Lake, which is the initial junction for the Lily Pond Loop described at the beginning of this post.
From here, go left to return to the trailhead, or, if you want to combine the Lily Pond Trail and Reflection Lake Trail into one longer hike, go right at this split, which you can read about in detail using the link below.
Read My Separate Post: Reflection Lake Trail
Lily Pond Trailhead
This is the Lily Pond Trailhead, with Manzanita Lake and the Loomis Ranger Station located right across the road.
