loomis museum

Located just inside the north entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park and next to Manzanita Lake, the Loomis Museum was the park’s principle visitor center prior to the completion of the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center near the south entrance. While it continues to serve as a visitor center with brochures, maps, ranger programs, park film and a bookstore; it features a museum telling the story of Mount Lassen’s most recent eruption cycle in 1914 – 1915. This eruption of Mount Lassen was the first volcanic eruption to be photographed and was captured on film by B. F. Loomis, for whom the museum is named for, and who later championed the creation of the National Park. Captioned enlargements of his photographs documenting the eruption and some of the original equipment he used are the center pieces of the museum. The museum is open 9am-5pm on weekends late May through mid June and daily mid June through October.