Trinity Alps & Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas. Mike White
the week during the summer and per night during the rest of the year.
Camp Unalayee (650-969-6313, unalayee-summer-camp.com) is a private kids’ summer camp on an inholding within the northeastern corner of the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Beginning operations on the present site in 1960, the camp was grandfathered in when the area became a federally designated wilderness in 1985.
Situated along the banks of the Klamath River about a mile from the town of Orleans, Sandy Bar Ranch (797 Ishi Pishi Road; 530-627-3379, sandybar.com) is a green-friendly resort offering four rustic redwood cabins for rent, each with a full bath and kitchen. Activities include rafting, fishing, and swimming in the Klamath River and hiking in the nearby western Alps.
RESORTS NEAR RUSSIAN WILDERNESS
More remote and much smaller than the Trinity Alps, the lands surrounding Russian Wilderness offer travelers little in the way of lodging options. JH Ranch (800-242-1224, jhranch.com) is a private Christian resort on the west side of the Russian Wilderness, geared primarily toward junior high and high school students.
RESORTS NEAR CASTLE CRAGS
Near the town of Castella along Clear Creek, Best in the West Resort (26987 Sims Road; 530-235-2603, eggerbestwest.com) is a small all-year facility with eight housekeeping cabins and an RV park.
Cave Springs Resort (4727 Dunsmuir Ave.; 888-235-2721, cavesprings.com), along the upper Sacramento River in Dunsmuir, rents cabins and motel rooms on a daily or weekly basis in a secluded setting.
Near the shore of Lake Siskiyou and southwest of the city of Mount Shasta, Mount 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