The Medicine Lake Volcano is a large shield volcano in northeastern California about 30 miles northeast of Mount Shasta. The volcano shield is 0.6 mile thick, 22 miles from east to west, 30 miles from north to south, and covers more than 770 square miles.

The volcano is primarily composed of basalt and basaltic andesite lava flows, and has a 4.3 mile by 7.5 mile caldera at the center.

The Medicine Lake shield rises 3,900 feet above the Modoc Plateau to an elevation of 7,795 feet.

The Lava flows from Medicine Lake Volcano is about 140 cubic miles in volume, making Medicine Lake the largest volcano by volume in the Cascade Range with Newberry Volcano in Oregon taking second place in largest volume.

  Mount Hoffman (7913 feet)

  Lyons Peak (7903 feet)

  Glass Mountain (7622 feet)

Pacific Coast Region, California

Cascade Foothills Ecoregion

In 1872–1873, the area around the Medicine Lake Shield Volcano, especially in what is now the Lava Beds National Monument was the site of the Modoc War and Captain Jacks Stronghold, with a band of indigenous people led by Kintpuash, known to English speaking people as Captain Jack. For more information about the Modoc ancient people, see:

Lava Beds NM Petroglyph Point

Indian Well Campground

Medicine Lake Campground (41.5880449, -121.5945825)

Mount Shasta Volcano

Lava Beds National Monument

Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Tule Lake Segregation Center (WWII Japanese American Detention Camp)

Lower Kalamath National Wildlife Refuge

Big Painted Cave (41.731725, -121.522940)

Boulevard Cave (41.745542, -121.544818)

Cave Loop (41.714276, -121.511055)

Indian Well Cave (41.713397, -121.506893)

Merril Cave (41.728698, -121.548953)

Mushpot Cave (41.713609, -121.508697)

Skull Cave (41.731111, -121.510813)

Symbol Bridge Cave (41.733429, -121.526365)

Valentine Cave (41.709193, -121.477760)

Schonchin Butte Lookout (41.73804106, -121.529008)

Timber Mountain Lookout (41.6290869, -121.2989949)

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway: California

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway: Oregon

The Lava Beds park in northern California, on the northeastern flank of the Medicine Lake Volcano has the largest area covered by a volcano in the Cascade Range, an area covering more than 46,000 acres.

The region in and around Lava Beds Monument lies at the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade, and the Great Basin geographic regions.

The Lava Beds park has numerous lava tube caves, with twenty-five having marked entrances and developed trails for public access and exploration.

The lava tube collapse systems and lava outcrops support a great diversity of plant life, from an impressive variety of lichens and mosses to plants such as desert sweet, the aromatic purple desert sage and yellow blazing star.

The park also offers 13 hiking trails, all of which cross or enter the backcountry through the high Great Basin shrubland desert landscape and the volcanic field.

Lava Beds park includes Petroglyph Point, one of the largest panels of Native American rock art in the United States. The region was historically occupied by the Modoc people.

Just north of the Lava Beds is the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge which covers 39,116 acres in the Tule Lake basin and is a major resting and feeding area for migrating waterfowl.

The Tule Lake refuge is located in a flyway of migrating waterfowl and many other bird species including bald and golden eagles. Bird watchers come to this refuge for the superior birding opportunities.