Page 161 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

City & Town
For travelers, Redding was nothing more
than a pit stop along Interstate 5 until
the opening of the instantly iconic Sun-
dial Bridge across the Sacramento River
in 2004. On the lower flanks of its name-
sake peak, Mount Shasta City sports a
main street lined with New Age book-
stores and shops selling crystals said to
have mystical powers. No less an
authority than James Hilton, author of
Lost Horizon, once claimed that the
pretty alpine hamlet of Weaverville,
gateway to the Trinity Alps, was the
closest he’s ever come to a real-life
Shangri-La.
The Great Outdoors
Mount Shasta is irresistible to climbers;
in the spring, summit-seekers are strung
out along its most popular routes like
ants on an anthill. To get to the top you
SUNSET TROUT FISHING at
Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic
National Park, above; Highway 97
heading toward Mount Shasta, left.
need an ice axe, crampons and the skill
to use them safely. But on Mount Lassen,
its neighbor to the south, a well-graded
trail runs all the way to the 10,457-foot-
high summit. World-class fly fishing
abounds in the Trinity Alps, and those
willing to walk a short distance with
their rods are almost guaranteed a spot
to themselves. On the Salmon River,
between the Trinity Alps and Marble
Mountains, Otter Bar Lodge
(otterbar.com) is one of the West’s pre-
mier whitewater kayaking schools.
Heritage & Culture
The Shasta Tribe of Native Americans
once occupied much of what is now far-
northern California and southern
Oregon, a band of hunters and fish-
ermen who lived in cedar-plank houses
with basements. Their population
dropped rapidly as settlers seized land
»
MUST
SEE,
DO
» Vision Quest Embark on a guided, day-long
vision quest to the sacred springs, portals and
other sites that many believe make Mount Shasta
a spiritual energy vortex.
› shastavortex.com
» Downhill Rider Enjoy the thrill of a scenic,
adrenaline-filled, downhill mountain-bike run
without the uphill pedaling by using the ski lifts at
the Mount Shasta Ski Park.
› skipark.com
» Sundial Bridge Stroll across the Sundial
Bridge, Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s
now-iconic cantilever pedestrian span across the
Sacramento River, the centerpiece of the
worthwhile Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding.
› turtlebay.org/sundialbridge
» Eagle Perch Witness the largest gathering of
bald eagles in the lower 48 states each winter at
the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake national wildlife
refuges, north of Mount Shasta.
› fws.gov/klamathbasinrefuges
» Volcano Climb Hike to the summit of the
southernmost of the Cascade volcanoes (summer
only) while peering into steaming, sulphurous
fumaroles at Lassen Volcanic National Park.
› nps.gov/lavo
INSIDER’S
»
TIP
Near the old railroad town of
Dunsmuir, the glacier-polished
battlements of CASTLE CRAGS
STATE PARK offer superb hiking,
with superlative views of
nearby Mount Shasta, plus
camping and fly fishing.
www.parks.ca.gov
2014 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 159