Located on the northeastern side of the Medicine Lake Volcano, where the Sierra-Klamath Cascade meets the Great Basin, the Lava Beds National Monument is where you can imagine what our planet may have looked like in ancient times.

This unearthly landscape formed from molten rock is a vast volcanic tablelands dotted with pit craters, cinder and spatter cones, and over 700 caves. The caves are in fact tubes formed when the edges of the flowing lava started to cool.

After hot lava stopped flowing, it cooled and hardened, leaving behind strange tubes of various sizes. While the area looks desolate and barren, it is teeming with life that has adapted to the strange ecosystem.

The cracks are filled with sagebrush, western junipers, and mountain mahogany, providing a home for pronghorn antelope, mule deer, rabbits, and many bird species such as bald eagles.

About two dozen tubes along Cave Loop Road can be explored and kids love it. Start with the kid-friendly 1,405-foot-long Hopkins Chocolate Cave.

Address: 1 Indian Well Campground Trail, Indian Well Hqts, CA 96134, Phone: 530-667-8100

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