The Shasta–Trinity National Forests are federally designated forests in northern
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States. Combined, they are the largest National Forest in California and are managed by the
U.S. Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
. The 2,210,485 acre (894,552 Ha) combined-forest encompasses five
wilderness
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
areas, hundreds of mountain lakes and of streams and rivers. Major features include Shasta Lake, the largest man-made lake in California and
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades ...
, elevation .
The Shasta–Trinity National Forests offer a wide range of recreational activities. Some of these include
hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
,
backpacking
Backpacking may refer to:
* Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel
* Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness
* Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...
,
mountain climbing
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
camping
Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...
,
boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...
, fishing, hunting, sightseeing, downhill skiing and riding,
snowboarding
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...
, cross-country skiing, and
snowmobiling
A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...
.
In descending order of land area, the forests are located in parts of
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
Modoc
Modoc may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Modoc people, a Native American/First Nations people
** Modoc language
**Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe of Modoc
*Modoc War, the last armed resistance of the Modoc people in 1873
*The "Mo ...
In 1905, the first timber sale under the new US Forest Service agency occurred on what was then called the Shasta Reserve. The Shasta National Forest (est.1905) and the Trinity National Forest (est.1905) were administratively combined in 1954. The new entity was officially renamed the Shasta–Trinity National Forest.
The
Trinity National Forest Trinity National Forest was established as the Trinity Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in California on April 26, 1905 with . It became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 it gave up some acreage to California National F ...
is located in subranges of the Northern Inner
California Coast Ranges
The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains.
P ...
and of the southeastern Klamath Mountains System, primarily in Trinity County, but also extending into parts of Tehama, Shasta, and Humboldt Counties. It has an area of .
The Shasta National Forest is located between the upper
Sacramento Valley
, photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg
, photo_caption= Sacramento
, map_image=Map california central valley.jpg
, map_caption= The Central Valley of California
, location = California, United States
, coordinates =
, boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...
and the
Shasta Valley
Shasta or Shastan may refer to:
Native American
* Shasta Costa, a people group native to southwestern Oregon
* Shasta language, extinct language of the Shasta people
* Shasta people, a people group native to northern California and southern Ore ...
to the north. It covers parts of Siskiyou, Shasta, Trinity, and Modoc Counties and has an area of .
The park was owned by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
from 1945 to 1948.
Wilderness areas
The forests include portions of five congressionally designated
Wilderness Area
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
s:
*
Castle Crags Wilderness
The Castle Crags Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Castle Crags rock formations of the Trinity Mountains, and within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, in northwestern California. It is located in Siskiyou County and Shasta County, no ...
*
Chanchelulla Wilderness
Chanchelulla Wilderness is an 8,062-acre (3,263 ha) wilderness area under the jurisdiction of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in the U.S. state of California. Established in 1984, the Wilderness is centered around Chanchelulla Peak standing ...
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
land)
*
Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness Yolla may refer to:
* Yolla gas field, Bass Strait, Australia
* Yolla, Tasmania, Australia
** Yolla District High School
** Yolla Football Club
* Yolla, Tasmanian Aboriginal word for short-tailed shearwater
* Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness, wild ...
(partly in Mendocino NF, Six Rivers NF, or BLM land)
Vegetation
The Shasta–Trinity forests lie at the intersection of the Eastern Klamath Mountains and the Southern Cascades (Miles & Goudy, 1997). The land is largely forested, though at low elevations there are areas of
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
,
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
, and
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
. At high elevations in the Trinity Alps, Eddys, and Mt. Shasta, forest gives way once again to montane chaparral, subalpine woodlands, and ultimately to alpine rock and scree.
Starting with lower elevations in the foothills around Shasta Lake, north of Redding, the forests and woodlands are dominated by
gray pine
''Pinus sabiniana'' (sometimes spelled ''P. sabineana''), with vernacular names including towani pine, foothill pine, gray pine, bull pine, and digger pine, is a pine endemic to California in the United States. Some sources discourage using the n ...
,
knobcone pine
The knobcone pine, ''Pinus attenuata'' (also called ''Pinus tuberculata''), is a tree that grows in mild climates on poor soils. It ranges from the mountains of southern Oregon to Baja California with the greatest concentration in northern Calif ...
blue oak
''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominan ...
,
black oak
Black Oak may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Black Oak, Arkansas
* Black Oak, Daviess County, Indiana
* Black Oak, Lake County, Indiana, a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana
* Black Oak, Missouri
Other
* Black Oak Arkansas, American band
** ...
,
canyon live oak
''Quercus chrysolepis'', commonly termed canyon live oak, canyon oak, golden cup oak or maul oak, is a North American species of evergreen oak that is found in Mexico and in the western United States, notably in the California Coast Ranges. This ...
California buckeye
''Aesculus californica'', commonly known as the California buckeye or California horse-chestnut, is a species of buckeye native to California and southwestern Oregon.
Description
It is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, up to tall, with gr ...
dogwood
''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrub ...
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
s.
At mid-elevations
sugar pine
''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name ''lambertiana'' was given by the Scottish botanist David Douglas, ...
,
incense-cedar
''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. It is native to eastern Asia and western North America.
The gener ...
Jeffrey pine
''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...
join Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and canyon live oak, while the other pines and oaks drop out of the mix.
Huckleberry oak
''Quercus vacciniifolia'' (sometimes spelled ''Q. vaccinifolia''), the huckleberry oak, is a member of the ''Protobalanus'' section of genus ''Quercus''. It has evergreen foliage, short styles, very bitter acorns that mature in 18 months, and ...
bitterbrush
''Purshia'' (bitterbrush or cliff-rose) is a small genus of 5–8 species of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae which are native to western North America.
Description
''Purshia'' species form deciduous or evergreen shrubs, typically reach ...
and tobacco brush are very common. On the serpentines of Trinity County's mid-elevation Klamath Mountains, incense-cedar and Jeffrey pine woodlands are inhabited by shrubby Congdon's silktassel, leather oak, and hoary manzanita. Farther west, on the long ridge of South Fork Mountain that divides the Shasta–Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests, the tree form of tanoak grows mixed with Douglas-fir and golden chinquapin.
Upper montane and subalpine forests are made up of red fir, mountain hemlock, western white pine, lodgepole pine; and at the highest elevations, foxtail and whitebark pines. Montane meadows and streamsides in the Klamath Ranges are marked by an abundance of California pitcherplant, western azalea, and occasional Port-Orford-cedar, which is disjunct here from its coastal populations.
Much more detail on the vegetation zones of Mount Shasta, and their associated flora and fauna, can be found in C. Hart Merriam's important early biological survey, published in 1899.
Lakes and rivers
The main branch of the Trinity River is a designated a National Wild and Scenic River which runs through the forest. The Shasta–Trinity National Forest also covers almost 70 percent of the watershed of the South Fork Trinity River, a tributary of the Trinity River.
Shasta, Lewiston and Trinity Lakes are part of the
Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area
The Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area in northern California.Lewiston Lake
Lewiston Lake is a reservoir impounded by Lewiston Dam on the Trinity River, in Trinity County, California.
Geography
Lewiston Lake is near the towns of Weaverville and Lewiston in Trinity County, California.
It is used for transbasin diver ...
, near the town of Weaverville, lies just downstream from
Trinity Dam
Trinity Dam is an earthfill dam on the Trinity River located about northeast of Weaverville, California in the United States. The dam was completed in the early 1960s as part of the federal Central Valley Project to provide irrigation water to ...
and Lake and just north of the town of Lewiston and is a constant level lake. It lies within the Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area.
Iron Canyon (northeast of Shasta Lake, near the town of Big Bend), Lewiston,
Lake McCloud
Lake McCloud is a reservoir on the McCloud River in Northern California.Trinity Divide area (west and southwest of the town of Mt. Shasta City), most of which support trout. The Trinity River, near the town of Weaverville, is very popular for salmon and steelhead angling, as is the Stuart Fork of the Trinity River and such streams as Canyon Creek (closed to fishing below Canyon Creek Falls), Coffee, Grizzly, Rush and Swift Creeks, all of which drain the Trinity Alps Wilderness, also near Weaverville.
Peaks, trails and byways
Shasta–Trinity National Forests have over of trails including a section of the Pacific Crest Trail in an east–west direction.
The 500-mile (804.7 km) Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway is an auto tour of northern California's volcanos and begins at Lassen Volcanic National Park, then to Mount Shasta and ends at
Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses the caldera of ...
.
Beginning in McCloud, the Modoc Volcanic Scenic Byway travels through some unique volcanic scenery in the eastern portion of the Forest on its way to Medicine Lake, Lava Beds National Monument, and Tule Lake.
Lookouts and cabins
In the lavaflow area of
Medicine Lake Volcano
Medicine Lake Volcano is a large shield volcano in northeastern California about northeast of Mount Shasta. The volcano is located in a zone of east-west crustal extension east of the main axis of the Cascade Volcanoes, Cascade Volcanic Arc ...
, is the Little Mt. Hoffman fire lookout. Restored to its original character, the lookout is now being offered as an overnight retreat for personal recreation use. From a height of , Little Mt. Hoffman offers a view of Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak, Mt. McLoughlin and a variety of other landforms. From the
Tulelake
Tulelake ( ) is a city in northeastern Siskiyou County, California, United States. The town is named after nearby Tule Lake. Its population is 902 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,010 from the 2010 census.
Tulelake peace officers are authori ...
Basin in the north to the Fall River valley in the south, the 360 degree view offers a view at some of northern California's most notable scenery. There is also Hirz lookout near Lake Shasta and the Post Creek lookout (somewhat near the town of Platina, on the southern end of the forest).
The Forest Glen cabin is a historic guard station, the oldest Forest Service building on the Shasta–Trinity National Forest. It was built in 1916 under the direction of John T. Grey, District Ranger of the Mad River Ranger District on the old Trinity National Forest. It is available for rent all year.