It is located on Hot Springs Creek at the head of Warner Valley, inside Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Drake settled in the Hot Springs Valley at some point in the late 1870s, building a cabin and eventually assembling about 400 acres (160 ha) encompassing a number of thermal features associate with the area's volcanism.

[2] Alexander Sifford, a schoolteacher from Susanville, came to the valley in 1900 to drink the mineral waters in hopes of relieving "nervous exhaustion."

[3] Initially calling the place the "Mount Lassen Hot Springs Hotel", the Siffords settled on "Drakesbad" as the final name in 1908.

[9] The Siffords, who now relied on their son Roy to do much of the management, contacted a local contractor who built a new lodge in ten days, finishing on June 30, 1938, with guests in their beds the same night.

However, Ida Sifford died in 1951, and Pearl, her daughter and Roy's sister, became terminally ill, and a hard winter in 1951–52 again damaged many structures.

[12] Prior to the sale, Roy Sifford had leased operations to Don Hummel, who managed the Manzanita Lake Lodge within the park.

[1] A November 2007 Los Angeles Times Travel feature article includes it within a top 15 list of California places to visit.