Mill Creek Canyon below has been glaciated; Childs Meadow is visible at the mouth of the canyon.
(0.4 mile)
9 LASSEN PEAK SIGN. This is one of the best views of the south side of Lassen Peak. To the left of it is sharp Eagle Peak and rounded Ski Heil. To the right, across the canyon at eye level, the red coloring is due to iron oxides, and the yellow-green is due to millions of lichen plants on the rocks. Across the roadway at the roadbank is cool drinking and car radiator water. Watch for autos when crossing the highway!
(0.1 mile)
10 THE SLOPING LAYERS OF LAVA AND ASH across the canyon to the east were part of ancestral Mt. Tehama. Just to the right are highly colored rocks that were once grey andesite lavas, but they have been chemically altered by steam and sulphurous acid from below. The white areas are largely clay with some non-precious opal. The tans, red, and purple are stains of iron oxides. Volcanic fumes reach the surface abundantly in this area, rising along fault cracks. Deep in the canyon below lies picturesque little Ink Lake.
(0.2 mile)
11 THE HUGE BOULDERS on the west (uphill) side of the road are chunks of cemented volcanic fragments which have rolled down from the top of Diamond Peak.
Lassen Peak is visible to the north (up canyon) from this vicinity, picturesquely framed by roadside trees.
(1.4 miles)
12 Rugged DIAMOND PEAK below, nearly encircled by Lassen Park Road, was named for the occurrence of occasional small, double-ended quartz crystals and diamond-shaped calcite crystals. These were deposited by hot volcanic waters that seeped through its already hardened lavas after volcanic eruptions had ceased. The mountain is the tough lava feeder, or core, of prehistoric Mount Tehama. Diamond Peak has resisted the sinking and weathering which reduced its surroundings.