Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Fire Plan banner

National Fire Plan Success Story

Aviation Support for "Reach the Peak" Project
Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
National Fire Plan - Rehabilitation
2010

Rock is loaded into large buckets to be transported to the Lassen Peak Trail.
Rock is loaded into large buckets to be transported to the Lassen Peak Trail.

A helicopter lifting a load of rock.
A helicopter takes the sling load of rock to one of five locations on the Lassen Peak Trail.

The fire management staff at Lassen Volcanic National Park organized a successful, accident-free, aviation operation to support the restoration and rehabilitation of the Lassen Peak Trail.

Reach the Peak is a five-year project that will construct a three-mile access trail from the Manzanita Lake developed area to Lassen Peak, create a new trail around the crater rim on top of the peak, and restore and widen sections of the existing Lassen Peak Trail. The park’s Branch of Fire and Aviation orchestrated an airlift operation over a period of eight days in August which entailed over 700 sling loads. The aviation operation transported over 2.1 million pounds of rock from the Peak parking lot to five different locations on the historic Lassen Peak Trail. Before the project was completed the helicopter recorded 46 hours of flight time.

The helibase was located in the Lassen Peak parking lot at 8,200 feet and the highest point to airlift the rock was at 10,000 feet. The rock was organized into three different sizes: rock weighing up to 300 pounds, rock equal to 175 pounds and a small amount of large individual rocks weighing up to 500 pounds.

Helicopter support costs included a Helicopter Manager, Helicopter Manager Trainee, Safety Officer, 3 helicopter crewmembers, and 13 National Park Service trail crewmembers.

The Lassen Peak Trail is the most popular trail in the park. It allows visitors to hike 2.5 miles to the top of one of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world. It is estimated that approximately 25,000 visitors hike the Lassen Peak trail each season. Repeated off-trail damages soil and rock retaining walls, making trail maintenance increasingly challenging.

This five year project is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Lassen Park Foundation, Lassen Volcanic National Park fee money, the National Park Trust, National Park Service Repair and Rehab funding and a Scenic Byway Grant.

Contact: Scott Isaacson, Fire Communication and Education Specialist, (530) 595-4444 x5162.