Shasta Resort (1000 Siskiyou Lake Blvd.; 800-958-3363, mountshastaresort.com) offers fully equipped chalets for rent. The resort also has a golf course, day spa, restaurant (open Thursday–Sunday), and lounge.
Open April 1–November 1, Lake Siskiyou Camp Resort (4239 W. A. Barr Road; 888-926-2618, lakesiskiyouresort.com) has cabin rentals, campsites, a general store, a marina, and a swimming beach.
BED-AND-BREAKFASTS NEAR TRINITY ALPS
The Old Lewiston Inn (71 Deadwood Road; 530-778-3385, theoldlewistoninn.com), overlooking the Trinity River in the small community of Lewiston, offers seven guest rooms. The three-room Whitmore Inn (761 Main St.; 503-623-2509, weavervillewhitmoreinn.com) occupies a restored Victorian home in the historic district of downtown Weaverville. The historic and elegant Carrville Inn Resort (581 Carrville Loop Road; 530-266-3000, carrvilleinn.com), 6 miles north of Trinity Center immediately off CA 3, is a spacious three-story inn offering six guest rooms and a two-bedroom cottage nearby.
BED-AND-BREAKFASTS NEAR RUSSIAN WILDERNESS
Alderbrook Manor in Etna (836 Sawyers Bar Road; 530-467-3917, alderbrookmanor.com), occupying a fully restored Victorian home on well-manicured grounds, offers four guest rooms, two with private baths. Of great interest to hikers and backpackers is the Hikers Hut, a six-bed hostel-type cabin equipped with a bathroom, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker, outdoor grill, and computer with Wi-Fi. A washer and dryer are also available.
RESORTS AND BED-AND-BREAKFASTS NEAR CASTLE CRAGS
The Mount Shasta area has several establishments of note. Dream Inn (326 Chestnut St.; 877-375-4744, dreaminnmtshastacity.com) consists of two neighboring houses, one Victorian and the other Spanish-style. Shasta MountINN Retreat & Spa (203 Birch St.; 530-261-1926, shastamountinn.com) occupies an old Victorian farmhouse. Shasta Star Ranch Bed & Breakfast (1008 W. A. Barr Road; 530-926-3870, mountshastabedandbreakfast.com) is located outside of town. And near Lake Siskiyou, Mount Shasta Resort (1000 Siskiyou Lake Blvd.; 800-958-3363, mountshastaresort.com) is an upscale all-year resort offering a range of amenities.
PACKERS, OUTFITTERS, AND GUIDES
A number of outfitters hold permits to operate guided trips into the Trinity Alps and Russian Wilderness, using llamas, horses, or mules as the beasts of burden. For more information, contact the Shasta-Cascade Wonderland Association (see).
Fording the outlet of Upper Boulder Creek Lake (see Trip 39)
Hiking and Backpacking Basics
This guide should provide you with all the information you need to hike, backpack, or ride horseback on the more than 500 miles of trails in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, Russian Wilderness, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (NRA), and Castle Crags area. The well-researched information in the trip descriptions will assist you in planning trips and anticipating the pleasures of any particular area. This guide will help you choose the right trips, and inform you about when to go, what to expect, and what to carry with you. If you happen to be fortunate enough to eventually experience all of the trips described in this book, you won’t regret the time or effort involved.
A basic knowledge of how to read topographic maps and how to use a compass and a GPS unit are expected skills for anyone headed into the areas covered in this guide. Consequently, the book does not go into minute details about the trails. If you would like to learn more about backcountry navigation, Brian Beffort’s Joy of Backpacking (also published by Wilderness Press) is a very helpful resource.
When and Where to Go
The relatively low elevations in Whiskeytown NRA and Castle Crags State Park provide fine early- and late-season hiking opportunities. In fact, many of those trails could be hiked year-round, depending on weather conditions. Most trails in the Trinity Alps and Russian Wilderness are open by late June in all years except those with inordinately heavy snowfall, and usually remain open until sometime in October or early November. At the beginning of each trip description is a “Season” listing, which may be slightly different from this generalization; there are usually good reasons for any discrepancies. For instance, some high-elevation passes and north-facing slopes shed their snow later than lower passes and south-facing slopes. Fords of swollen streams may not be safe at the same time every year as well. Since no two years are alike, you should always exercise good judgment and acquire all the relevant information about an area when planning your visit.
IF YOU WANT TO FISH
Fishing is generally good—even fantastic at times!—in the areas covered by this guide. Almost all of the lakes in this region have been stocked with fish in the past, but stocking has been curtailed by court ruling in many of the more remote lakes in an attempt to restore the native fish populations. Reducing stocking is also a cost-cutting measure for a state government badly strapped for cash. A list of bodies of water in the state that will and will not be stocked by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is generally available at wildlife.ca.gov. The only lakes not stocked in the past were too small and remote, or so high and shallow that they froze solid during the winter, killing the fish. Most of the trout in the backcountry lakes are eastern brook trout, as this species can reproduce without the aid of running water. However, a few lakes do have a good population of rainbow trout that spawn successfully in the running water of inlets or outlets. Some other lakes also contain large rainbow and brown trout that were stocked several years ago, such as Upper Canyon Creek Lake, which boasts a healthy population of good-size fish of all three species.
Fly-fishing in the Trinity River
Photo: Luther Linkhart
Fishing in the Klamath River system, including streams that empty directly into the Trinity River below Lewiston Dam, and all the tributaries of these streams, is influenced by steelhead and salmon runs. You may see a few adult steelhead resting in the deep pools of these streams in the summer during spawning runs. If you’re particularly fortunate, you may even see a salmon or two, but they are becoming scarce. In an effort to sustain these fisheries, salmon and steelhead runs in the anadromous waters of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers are reviewed and regulated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife every year. Check with them for current quotas and regulations.
Of course, none of the streams that empty into Trinity Lake or the Trinity River above the lake have steelhead or salmon runs any longer. However, all of these streams of any consequence harbor some native rainbow trout, and some of the higher tributaries have eastern brook trout. The lower, more easily reached stretches of these streams are badly overfished. Stuart Fork, Swift Creek, and Coffee Creek have been hit particularly hard.
Some of the best fishing in the state occurs in the upper Sacramento River near Castle Crags. Fishing season on
