Burney Falls

The Modoc Plateau is a high plain built upon a thick accumulation of lava flows. Broken by scattered north-south faults, river streams, and volcanic cones, the lava flows have erupted episodically for at least 2 million years. At Lava Beds National Monument, lava flows from Mammoth Crater covered the area about 30,000 years ago, forming most of the 400+ lava tubes in the monument. At Burney Falls, which lies near the Modoc Plateau/Cascade Range boundary, the river cascades past 129 feet (39 meters) of lava flows.

Print No. A99NW-23-1.

More images from Lava Beds and Vicinity.