Area Review: Mount Shasta, CA

After 3 years on the road, Mount Shasta still ranks as our absolute favorite stop. We had no idea we’d even be stopping here since we only booked it as a stop between our Thousand Trails campgrounds in California and Oregon.

As we wound through the beautiful mountains with trees as far as the eye could see, we kept seeing signs for all things “Mount Shasta”.  We had no idea what Mount Shasta was, but after a quick Google search, we were intrigued.

By the time we spent a week at the base of this magical mountain…which is actually a volcano…we were completely taken! We didn’t want to leave.

(For SEO purposes, we’ll call her Mount Shasta, but just know that we actually called her Shasty ❤️ )

Here were our favorite hikes from this stop!

Things to Do

This area in northern California was FULL of incredible hikes and a cute little local town.

Check out our AllTrails Lists that show you each of these hikes below!

McCloud Falls

This was our first real, up close waterfall experience and we fell in love.

We sat on these rocks listening to the deafening sound of the water rushing over the cliff for at least an hour. We were mesmerized. The wind picked up flurries of the cool mist coming off the waterfall, cooling us under the hot, full sun of the day.

After we started our trek back, the powerful rush of the waterfall slowly turned to a much quieter, fast-paced gurgle as we left the waterfall behind in the distance.

This is a free hike, only about 2 miles round trip and you absolutely won’t regret it. GO SEE MCCLOUD FALLS!

Lake SIskiyou

This was a hidden gem. The trail didn’t look like anything more than a sidewalk at first, but we followed it nonetheless. Then it turned into a more woodsy setting with a trail leading us deeper in; we followed the path and suddenly we saw the sun dancing on the water through the trees. We got closer and would you look at this? We found this incredible lake with none other than Mount Shasta in the background!

Massabre Falls

This was one of the COOLEST reveals! You do have to walk along an active railroad so please, please be careful if you choose to do this hike.

⚠️ Do not walk on the rock wall side of the tracks – walk on the side where the water is. If a train comes, you’ll be in trouble if you’re on the rock side of the tracks. ⚠️

Moving on, once you walk about a mile and a half down the railroad tracks, you turn right at this really big rock (right before a bridge) and you’ll come to the most beautiful, incredible waterfalls. The water is literally just spilling out the side of a mountain!

Check it out. 

Bunny Hill Flat Trailhead

Now this was our hike up actual Mount Shasta. This was our first up close encounter with her and it was breathtaking!

…no, seriously. It’s a pretty incline at points. It’ll actually take your breath away.

There are about a dozen trails you can hike on Mount Shasta, but we started here which is a beginner trail. We got there a little later in the day than we anticipated because we got sidetracked eating at Yak Shack and then buying hiking boots FOR the hike.

If we could do it again, we’d give ourselves more than an hour before sunset. Regardless, this trail is 1,000% worth it – and the drive to the trail was just as incredible!