Chaos Crags

Chaos Crags
Chaos Crags with Chaos Jumbles below.
Highest point
Elevation	8,448 ft (2,575 m)
Prominence	581 ft (177 m)
Coordinates	40°31′27″N 121°31′20″W / 40.5240482°N 121.5222036°W / 40.5240482; -121.5222036[1]
Geography
Location	Lassen Volcanic National Park, Shasta County, California, U.S.
Parent range	Cascade Range
Topo map	USGS Manzanita Lake
Geology
Rock age	Holocene
Mountain type	Lava domes[2]
Volcanic arc	Cascade Volcanic Arc[2]

Chaos Crags is the youngest group of lava domes in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. They formed as six dacite domes 1,100-1,000 years ago, one dome collapsing during an explosive eruption about 70 years later. The eruptions at the Chaos Crags mark one of just three instances of Holocene activity within the Lassen volcanic center. The cluster of domes is located north of Lassen Peak and form part of the southernmost segment of the Cascade Range in Northern California. Each year, a lake forms at the base of the Crags, and typically dries by the end of the summer season.

From the base of the crags and extending toward the northwest corner of the park is Chaos Jumbles, a rock avalanche that undermined Chaos Crags' northwest slope 300 years ago. Riding on a cushion of compressed air (see sturzstrom), the rock debris traveled at about 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), flattened the forest before it, and dammed Manzanita Creek, forming Manzanita Lake. In addition to the possibility of forming additional lava domes, future activity at the Chaos Crags could pose hazards from pumice, pyroclastic flows, or rockfalls. Geological study of the Chaos Crags, which continues today, began in the late 1920s, when Howel Williams wrote about its pyroclastic rock deposits, rockfall avalanches, and eruptions. The area is monitored for rockslide threats, which could threaten the local area.

The Crags and the surrounding area's lakes and forests support numerous plant and animal species. The area is not a popular destination for visitors, despite its accessibility. The Chaos Crags and Crags Lake Trail, which lasts about three hours round-trip, offers views of volcanic phenomena nearby, as well as the Hat Creek valley and the Thousand Lakes Wilderness.