The small community of Hat Creek is located on Highway 89, east of Redding and north of Mount Lassen, within the Lassen National Forest. Hat Creek is part of the Redding, California metro area.
Nearly 1 million years ago, active faulting gradually dropped a block of the Earth's crust (now Hat Creek Valley) 1,000 feet below the top of the Hat Creek Rim, leaving behind this large fault scarp. A heritage of the Hat Creek area's past, it offers magnificent views of Hat Creek Valley, Lassen Peak, Burney Mountain, and, further away, Mt. Shasta. Access is by dirt and gravel roads. This area was burned over during the 1987 Lost Fire which burned over 24,000 acres of land.