California, Shasta County, near Mill Creek
![]()
This basaltic andesite boulder was created about 350 years ago, during the formation of Cinder Cone Volcano. Cinder cones form when blobs of gas-charged lava explode from a volcano’s vent, then fall back to earth as cooled fragments of rock.
Cinder Cone volcano, in the park’s northeast corner, first erupted about 1650 AD. Ash deposits from its eruption are still found eight to ten miles away. Repeated basalt flows from Cinder Cone volcano, elevation 6,907 feet (2105 m) reached Butte Lake and dammed up Butte Creek, creating Snag Lake.
Colorful pieces of an earlier volcano were carried away by Cinder Cone’s lava flow and can be found in the Fantastic Lava Beds and Painted Dunes lava fields.
(Environment) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
This basaltic andesite boulder was created about 350 years ago, during the formation of Cinder Cone Volcano. Cinder cones form when blobs of gas-charged lava explode from a volcano’s vent, then fall back to earth as cooled fragments of rock.Cinder Cone volcano, in the park’s northeast corner, first erupted about 1650 AD. Ash deposits from its eruption are still found eight to ten miles away. Repeated basalt flows from Cinder Cone volcano, elevation 6,907 feet (2105 m) reached Butte Lake and dammed up Butte Creek, creating Snag Lake.
Colorful pieces of an earlier volcano were carried away by Cinder Cone’s lava flow and can be found in the Fantastic Lava Beds and Painted Dunes lava fields.
(Environment) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.