Tule Lake National Monument

California

Managed by National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Established 2008

1,391 acres

Website: nps.gov/tule

Overview

Following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the detention of more than 110,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese descent at ten concentration camps in the contiguous United States.  At Tule Lake War Relocation Center, 7,400 acres were enclosed by barbwire to hold about 12,000 people in northeast California.  Once a loyalty questionnaire was distributed throughout the ten camps, those considered disloyal to the U.S. government were all shipped to the renamed Tule Lake Segregation Center, which held 18,789 inmates at its peak.  Overcrowding, harassment, beatings, and a fatal farm accident led to riots and mass demonstrations, and martial law was declared from November 13, 1943 to January 15, 1944.  This camp was the last to be closed on March 20, 1946, months after the end of the war.  It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2006, and two years later became one of nine sites within World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (which included Pearl Harbor National Memorial).  When that was disbanded in 2019, Tule Lake National Monument was created.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds Museum, Tule Lake Segregation Center prison

Must-Do Activity

Most of the buildings at Tule Lake Segregation Center were moved elsewhere following the war.  One of the few remaining structures is the prison, which is only accessible on ranger-guided tours offered Memorial Day to Labor Day on Thursdays through Sundays (call ahead for required reservations).  The concrete jail had six cells to hold 24 men, but incarcerated over 100 at one time mostly outside in Army tents used as unheated punishment quarters.  The prison is always visible from the National Park Service (NPS) visitor center off Highway 139.  It is worth getting a tour to go inside to see original graffiti from inmates and the reinstalled metal doors that were purchased by a private citizen in the 1940s and kept at their farm for decades.  Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds Museum (fee) has a one-hour audio tour and there are online virtual tours that show several sites within Tule Lake National Monument, including the inside of the jail prior to the restoration.

Best Trail

There are no designated trails there, but from the NPS visitor center near Newell you can photograph the rock formation known as Peninsula/Castle Rock (solely managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).  It is also visible while checking out the rock art at Petroglyph Point within Lava Beds National Monument.

Photographic Opportunity

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was stationed at Camp Tulelake from 1935 to 1942, constructing 23 buildings and repairing canals.  Several small groups of Japanese Americans were held at Camp Tulelake to separate them from the general population at Tule Lake Segregation Center.  Later in the war, Italian and German POWs were stationed there before the buildings were transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Currently, tours of Camp Tulelake are not available due to ongoing preservation work, but you can photograph it through the fence on Hill Road and hike to bird viewing blinds in Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/tule/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

Ranger-guided tours require a reservation, but they are free.  There is an entrance fee for the museum at Tulelake-Butte Valley Fairgrounds.

Road Conditions

Highway 139 and Hill Road are paved, but most of the roads through the former Tule Lake Segregation Center and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge are unpaved.

Camping

Indian Well Campground is located in Lava Beds National Monument near the visitor center and Cave Loop Road.  Dirt roads in the nearby Modoc and Klamath National Forests provide free dispersed camping.

Related Sites

Manzanar National Historic Site (California)

Minidoka National Historic Site (Idaho-Washington)

Amache National Historic Site (Colorado)

Explore More – Providing crucial habitat along the Pacific Flyway, what type of migratory birds can be seen at Tule Lake, Clear Lake, and Modoc National Wildlife Refuges?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments