The place is rather unique with a long history.I stayed here to have access to the South Eastern part of Lassen Volcanic NP.There are some excellent hikes to do from the lodge including Boiling Lake,Devils Kitchen,Kings Creek Falls and Sifford Lakes,also much longer hikes if you are energetic.
Rooms are in a central lodge or cabins.My room{5 in the lodge} was adequate but I was disturbed a few times by guests slamming the upstairs door to go out.I have asked the owners, who incidentally are very nice, to put up a sign to stop this.
They have a great hot soaking pool{too hot for doing laps},campfire each night, good meals especially BBQ night ,horse rides.
There is no TV, Internet or Cell Phone reception which for me was great.You come here for nature and to relax.

Located within the borders of Lassen National Park, Drakesbad Ranch is an out of the way hidden gem. We stayed at Drakesbad in a cabin for three nights. It reminded me of summer camp when I was a child. I really enjoyed the experience.

The cabin was comfortable for the two of us with a toilet and sink. There is no electricity in the cabins, kerosene lamps are supplied for your use. We chose not to use the lamps and used flashlights instead. LED flashlights worked well and provided the light we needed.

The food was good. We enjoyed the meals. If you are going to be away for lunch, they provide a bag lunch in the morning. Dinner was very good with a vegetarian option offered.

There are some great hiking trails. Two of our favorites were the trail to Devil's Kitchen, a geothermal area and Boiling Lake, a hot spring-fed sulphurous lake. Drakesbad has a hot spring fed pool (no sulphur smell at all) that is GREAT for relaxing in after a day of hiking. Showers are located near the pool.

They have horses at Drakesbad if you would like to go for trail rides. The most impressive thing about the corral was how CLEAN it was. Manure was promptly removed so flies and strong odors were not a problem!

There were a few extended families that were staying at the ranch when we were there. They all seemed to be enjoying Drakesbad. There is a large "family room" on the first floor of the lodge with a woodstove, fireplace and lots of comfortable chairs. There is electricity in this room, so a it's a great place to curl up with a good book in front of the fire.

NOTE: If you are looking for a place to stay close to Lassen State Park, although Drakesbad is in the park, it is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from the Lassen NP visitor's center. Go to Drakesbad as a destination and enjoy a day trip to the Lassen NP to see the Bumpass Hell geothermal area, Lassen peak and the park road.

Drakesbad may be pleasant enough, I suppose, for residents of the Sacramento valley who want to escape its 100 degree heat. The place seems to draw families with small children and grandparents. Children can play ping-pong, while gramps sits on the porch and looks out at a dry meadow with a bit too much skunk cabbage.

But if you want to see the attractions of Lassen Volcanic national park—its volcanic peaks, waterfalls, and wildflowers—you will have an EIGHTY MINUTE drive to the Visitor Center. Your drive will include at least four miles of low-gear unpaved road, encounters with road construction on single lane highway 36, possibly getting stuck behind a logging truck, and if you are really lucky, you will see a local psychopath jump out of his white Ford pickup and start yelling.

I made this drive twice and also hiked in five miles—mostly uphill through generic national forest—to the highway. I’d recommend staying a little closer to the park.

I found Drakesbad a little too regimented (assigned parking spaces, assigned seats at meals). If you are assigned a dinner table with a Biden-like windbag and his family of three, there is not much you can do, unless the Drakesbad staff forgets to assign seats for single diners, as it did with me for the Wednesday barbeque.

On the other hand, Drakesbad can be a little erratic in its meal service and billing. Avoid dinner on Monday, where the meal consists of a child’s portion chicken breast and possibly the smallest green salad in Northern California. Try Wednesday, where the outdoor barbeque features steak and has a buffet line that actually permits second helpings from the salad bowl. At checkout, the people ahead of me, through-hikers camping nearby, were each billed $17 for Wednesday’s breakfast and dinner. My meals cost $88 per day (according to the “food tax” charge on my bill). I guess it paid to stay at a campground, but you’d still be stuck with a long drive to the real national park.

No phones, newspapers, Internet; or even electricity in the rooms (kerosene lamps are provided), and a few have bathrooms down the hall. Located at the end of an unpaved road from the town of Chester in northeast California. But luxury of a dusty country sort, with three excellent meals a day included, a small heated pool, ping-pong table, croquet set, volleyball court, and two wonderful generous innkeepers and staff. Drakesbad's isolation within Lassen Volcanic Park makes it a great spot for hiking around and out of the Warner Valley, or riding horses you bring or rent at the adjoining stable. Reservations fill up quickly with families who come back year after year, though the occasional cancellation leaves cabins and rooms available on shorter notice. The Pacific Crest Trail passes less than a mile away, so thousand-mile hikers occasionally drop in for a meal, a shower, laundry, or all of the above. It's easy to see why people return here. (The National Park Service is considering making changes to the facilities and the valley ecology, but none of the proposed alternatives appear likely to have a major effect on the ambience of the place, which the NPS says it wants to retain.)