I’ve never spent much time in the more northern parts of California, save for a flop of a summit attempt and a few days in Lassen Volcanic National Park. It’s only 4.5-5 hours away, nearly the same amount to drive to Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows or Mammoth. Over the Martin Luther King weekend, I tried to rectify this with a trip to Mount Shasta, both a city and a breathtaking, mystical mountain.
I reached out to a few friends on things to do in the Mount Shasta area. The one thing everyone suggested was the McCloud Falls trail.
The McCloud Falls trail is an easily accessible, family friendly hike. Out and back, the trail is about 3.5 miles long with a little over two hundred feet of elevation gain. The trail visits three tiers of waterfalls on the McCloud River.
When you get off of I-5 at Siskiyou Ave in Dunsmuir, there’s a tiny sign announcing the presence of Hedge Creek Falls. This sign does not do it justice. This little waterfall is one of the most scenic leg stretchers on this stretch of highway.
Over the long weekend, I had the chance to head up Siskiyou County, or the area near the behemoth that is Mount Shasta. Our first stop was a 3 mile hike to Heart Lake in Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
