| Country: | USA | ||
| Type: | Scenic | ||
| Route: | Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway | ||
| Length Mi: | 500 | ||
| Length Round: | 0 | ||
| Section1: | Main byway | ||
| Direction A1: | North | ||
| Direction B1: | South | ||
| Terminus A1: | south of Chemult, OR | ||
| Terminus B1: | near Canyondam, CA | ||
| Section2: | Tule Lake spur route | ||
| Direction A2: | North | ||
| Direction B2: | South | ||
| Terminus A2: | near Dorris, CA | ||
| Terminus B2: | Route 89 at Forest Service Road 15, Modoc National Forest, near Bartle, CA | ||
| Section3: | Lassen Scenic Byway (loop road) | ||
| Direction A3: | North | ||
| Direction B3: | South | ||
| Terminus A3: | near Old Station, CA | ||
| Terminus B3: | near Canyondam, CA | ||
| Section4: | Lassen Scenic Byway bypass | ||
| Terminus A4: | near Westwood, CA | ||
| Terminus B4: | near Chester, CA | ||
| States: | California and Oregon | ||
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The Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway is a scenic byway and All-American Road in the U.S. states of California and Oregon. It is roughly 500miles long and travels north–south along the Cascade Range past numerous volcanoes. It is composed of two separate National Scenic Byways, the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway - Oregon and Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway - California. The former includes Rim Drive within Crater Lake National Park, while the latter wholly includes the Lassen Scenic Byway within Lassen Volcanic National Park.[1]
The southern terminus of the byway is located in Canyondam, at the intersection of State Route 147 (SR 147) and SR 89. SR 89 runs along the west side of Lake Almanor, and then runs eastward through Chester towards Mineral. From Mineral, the byway runs northward through Lassen Volcanic National Park to Manzanita Lake to Old Station. From the southern terminus of the byway, there is also a bypass route along SR 147. SR 147 runs along the east side of Lake Almanor and intersects with SR 36 at Westwood. From this point, the bypass runs eastward until it intersects with SR 44 in Susanville. From this point, the bypass runs to the northwest through the Lassen National Forest until it intersects with SR 89 in Old Station. The route from Canyondam to Chester to Mineral to Manzanita Lake to Old Station to Susanville to Westwood and back to Canyondam forms a loop—designated the Lassen Scenic Byway—which can be traveled either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Continuing northwards from Old Station, the byway goes through Hat Creek and then to Burney. Thousand Lakes Wilderness and Burney Mountain are located just west of the byway, while Hat Creek Radio Observatory and the Lassen National Forest are to the east.
Continuing northwards from Burney, the byway goes past McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park, then Lake Britton, then crosses the McCloud River and runs past Bartle before arriving at McCloud. The byway splits at Bartle; there is an alternate route that runs in a northeasterly direction for 46miles through the Modoc National Forest, winding past Medicine Lake before arriving at Lava Beds National Monument. From Lava Beds National Monument the alternate route runs north for roughly 18miles, passing through Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
From McCloud, the byway goes past Mount Shasta, then through Black Butte before arriving at Weed. Lake Siskiyou is located just west of the byway, while Mount Shasta is to the west.
Continuing northwards from Weed, the byway goes past Carrick, then Pluto's Cave, Mount Hebron, Macdoel, Butte Valley National Grassland, and Meiss Lake before arriving at Dorris. The byway again splits just north of Dorris; there is an alternate route that runs east for 19miles along the California–Oregon state line on SR 161 past Ainsworth Corner and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge to Hatfield. At Hatfield, SR 161 joins SR 139. From here, the byway continues south for 4miles to Tulelake. At this point, SR 139 becomes the Lava Beds Highway while the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway turns sharply to the east. 5miles east of this point, the byway then turns runs south for roughly 18miles, where it passes through Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Lava Beds National Monument. From Lava Beds National Monument, the byway continues south for 46miles through Modoc National Forest, winding past Medicine Lake before arriving at SR 89 in Bartle.
From Tulelake, the byway continues east for 5miles, then turns north and goes past Camp Tulelake before turning west onto SR 161 at Ainsworth Corner.From Ainsworth Corner, the byway continues east on SR 161 for 19miles through Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge along the California–Oregon state line, then turns north onto U.S. Route 97 (US 97) at Dorris. Continuing north, the byway crosses into Oregon at the Francis Landrum Historic Wayside, then passes through Worden (Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge is located just east of the byway at Worden) and Midland before arriving at Klamath Falls.
At Klamath Falls, the byway turns onto Oregon Route 140 (OR 140) and heads northeast along the eastern side of Upper Klamath Lake for 25miles before turning north onto Westside Road. From there, the byway passes between Pelican Butte (west of the byway) and Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (east of the byway) before arriving at Fort Klamath.
At Fort Klamath, the byway joins OR 62 and continues north for 16miles, where it turns onto Munson Valley Road and enters Crater Lake National Park. At this point, the road becomes Rim Drive, a 33miles loop that follows the caldera rim around Crater Lake. At Merriam Point, Rim Drive splits and turns north. The byway continues north for 9miles, crossing the Pumice Desert before turning east onto OR 138. From this point, the byway continues east for nearly 15miles, before finally terminating at US 97 in Chemult.