Shasta County

The county in brief

A traveler's read on Shasta County

Mount Shasta at 14,179 ft is the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range (after Mt. Rainier) and the most-prominent volcano in the contiguous United States at 9,772 ft of topographic prominence — taller in vertical relief from its base than even Denali measures from its surrounding plateau. Shasta County's 3,775 sq mi wrap the southern half of Mount Shasta, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (a federal Bureau of Reclamation reservoir transferred to NPS administration in 1972), and the eastern Trinity Alps Wilderness boundary. Redding (population 93,611, county seat) anchors the I-5 corridor at 495 ft elevation; the Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River, designed by Santiago Calatrava and opened 2004, is the world's largest working sundial with a 217-ft pylon casting a moving shadow across a north-facing dial plate.

Whiskeytown NRA's Brandy Creek Campground accepts rigs to 35 ft on a first-come basis with a $20/night fee per NPS 2024 fee schedule, and the 2018 Carr Fire blackened 92% of the recreation area — vegetation regrowth opened 28 of 30 trails by 2023 per the NPS Whiskeytown Carr Fire Recovery report. The Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (CA-89 north + US-97) crosses the county connecting Lassen Volcanic NP to Crater Lake NP across the Cascade arc. Shasta-Trinity NF (the largest national forest in California at 2.2 million acres) administers dispersed camping along the McCloud River corridor with a 14-day stay limit and seasonal Stage-1 fire restrictions typically activating July through first measurable rainfall (per Forest Order 14-22-08 historical pattern). Shasta County 2024 General Plan Chapter 16 prohibits overnight RV parking in unincorporated commercial zones without owner permission.