Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Encyclopedia
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is a federally designated forest in northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA. It is the largest National Forest
United States National Forest
National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...

 in California and is managed by the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

. The 2.2-million acre (8,942.87 km2) forest encompasses five wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...

 areas, hundreds of mountain lakes and 6278 miles (10,103.4 km) of streams and rivers. Major features include Shasta Lake
Shasta Lake
Shasta Lake, also called Lake Shasta, is an artificial lake created by the construction of Shasta Dam across the Sacramento River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest of Shasta County, California...

, the largest man-made lake in California and Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

, elevation 14162 feet (4,316.6 m).
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest offers a wide range of recreational activities. Some of these include hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

, backpacking
Backpacking (wilderness)
Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...

, mountain climbing, horseback riding, camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...

, boating
Boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...

, fishing, sightseeing, downhill skiing, snowboarding
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling.

In descending order of land area, the forest is located in parts of Trinity
Trinity County, California
Trinity County is a large, rugged and mountainous, heavily forested county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. It covers an area of over two million acres , and as of the 2010 census its population...

, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Modoc and Humboldt
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...

 counties.

History

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 and the Trinity National Forest
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 Forest. In 1954 it was combined administratively with...

 were consolidated in 1954 and officially became the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The more westerly section of the forest (formerly the Trinity National Forest) is located in the eastern portions of the California Coast Ranges, primarily in Trinity County, but also extending into parts of Tehama, Shasta, and Humboldt counties. It has an area of 1043677 acre (422,361.5 ha). The more easterly part of the forest (formerly the Shasta National Forest) section is located between California's Central Valley and the Shasta Valley
Shasta River
The Shasta River is a tributary of the Klamath River, approximately long, in northern California in the United States. It drains the Shasta Valley on the west and north sides of Mount Shasta in the Cascade Range....

 to the north. It covers parts of Siskiyou, Shasta, Trinity, and Modoc counties and has an area of 1166155 acre (471,926.6 ha).

Wilderness areas

The forest includes portions of five federally designated Wilderness Areas: Castle Crags
Castle Crags Wilderness
The Castle Crags Wilderness is a wilderness area located 40 miles north of Redding, California within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The US Congress passsd the California Wilderness Act in 1984 which set aside the wilderness...

, Chanchellulla, Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta Wilderness
The Mount Shasta Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located east of Mount Shasta City in northern California. The US Congress passed the 1984 California Wilderness Act that set aside the Mount Shasta Wilderness. The US Forest Service is the managing agency as the wilderness ...

, Trinity Alps
Trinity Alps Wilderness
The Trinity Alps Wilderness is a designated wilderness located in northern California, roughly between Eureka and Redding. It is jointly administered by Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, and Six Rivers National Forests. About are administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The wilderness is located in...

 and Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel
Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness
The Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located west of Red Bluff in the state of California. Created by the Wilderness Act of 1964, the land area was originally ....

.

Vegetation

The forest contains 230000 acres (930.8 km²) of old growth. The most common old-growth forests include Coast Douglas-fir
Coast Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii, known as Douglas-fir, Oregon Pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer species native to western North America. Its variety Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, also known as coast Douglas-fir grows in the coastal regions, from west-central British Columbia, Canada...

 (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), Tanoak
Tanoak
Tanoak, formerly known taxonomically as Lithocarpus densiflorus, was recently moved into a new genus, Notholithocarpus, based on multiple lines of evidence....

 (Lithocarpus densiflorus), Pacific madrone
Pacific Madrone
Arbutus menziesii, commonly known as the Pacific Madrone, is a species of Arbutus found on the west coast of North America, from British Columbia to California...

 (Arbutus menziesii), Red Fir
Red Fir
Abies magnifica, the Red Fir or Silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high altitude tree, typically occurring at altitude, though only rarely reaching tree line...

 (Abies magnifica), White Fir
White Fir
White Fir is a fir native to the mountains of western North America, occurring at altitudes of 900-3,400 m. It is a medium to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–60 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m . It is popular as an ornamental landscaping tree and as a Christmas Tree...

 (Abies concolor), and Jeffrey Pine
Jeffrey Pine
The Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine.-Distribution and habitat:...

 (Pinus jeffreyi)

Lakes and rivers


The main branch of the Trinity River
Trinity River (California)
The Trinity River is the longest tributary of the Klamath River, approximately long, in northwestern California in the United States. It drains an area of the Coast Ranges, including the southern Klamath Mountains, northwest of the Sacramento Valley...

 is a designated a National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States.The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission...

 which runs through the forest. The Shasta-Trinity National Forest also covers almost 70 percent of the watershed of the South Fork Trinity River
South Fork Trinity River
The South Fork Trinity River is a major tributary of the Trinity River, in the northern part of the U.S. state of California.It is part of the Klamath River drainage basin. It flows generally northwest from its source in the Klamath Mountains, draining about of mountainous terrain...

, a tributary of the Trinity River.

Shasta Lake is part of the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area
Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area
The Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area in northern California. It has a total of of land, which is divided into three units, Whiskeytown, Shasta and Trinity. The recreation area was established in 1965 by the United States Congress. The...

.

Shasta Lake itself is 365 miles (587.4 km) of shoreline made-up of many arms and inlets for explorers and boaters alike. The four major arms of the lake are: Sacramento, McCloud, Squaw Creek and Pit and have scenery as well as unusual geologic and historic areas of interest.
Lewiston Lake
Lewiston Lake
Lewiston Lake is a reservoir created by Lewiston Dam on the Trinity River, near the towns of Weaverville and Lewiston in Trinity County, California. It is used for transbasin diversion to the Sacramento River and flood control, as well as for hydroelectric generation, and is a popular destination...

 lies just downstream from Trinity Dam
Trinity Dam
Trinity Dam is an earth dam on the Trinity River that forms Trinity Lake near Weaverville, California. Trinity Lake was previously called Clair Engle Lake. The earthfill dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Construction was completed in 1962. Trinity Lake has a capacity of , making it...

 and just north of the town of Lewiston
Lewiston, California
Lewiston is a census-designated place in Trinity County, California, United States. The population was 1,193 at the 2010 census, down from 1,305 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lewiston is located at ....

 and is a constant level lake. It lies within the National Recreation Area.
Iron Canyon, Lewiston, Lake McCloud
Lake McCloud
Lake McCloud is a reservoir on the McCloud River in Northern California. The lake forms behind an earthen dam finished in 1965 by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to control water flows and for generating hydro-electric power...

, Shasta Lake and Trinity are the large lakes and reservoirs in the area for fishing, boating and camping. There are many alpine lakes in the Trinity Divide area of the forest, most of which support trout. The Trinity River is very popular for salmon and steelhead angling, as is the Stuart Fork of the Trinity River and such streams as Canyon (closed to fishing below Canyon Creek Falls), Coffee, Grizzly, Rush and Swift Creeks, all of which drain the Trinity Alps Wilderness
Trinity Alps Wilderness
The Trinity Alps Wilderness is a designated wilderness located in northern California, roughly between Eureka and Redding. It is jointly administered by Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, and Six Rivers National Forests. About are administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The wilderness is located in...

.

Peaks, trails and byways

From a height of 7309 feet (2,227.8 m), Little Mt. Hoffman offers a view of Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak
Lassen Peak
Lassen Peak is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc which is an arc that stretches from northern California to southwestern British Columbia...

, Mt. McLoughlin
Mount McLoughlin
Mount McLoughlin is a steep-sided lava cone built on top of a shield volcano in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the Sky Lakes Wilderness area. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The mountain is north of Mount Shasta, south of Crater Lake, and west of Upper...

 and a variety of other interesting landforms. From the Tulelake Basin in the north to the Fall River valley in the south, the 360 degree view offers a peek at some of northern California's most notable and beautiful scenery.
Shasta-Trinity National Forest has over 460 miles of trails including a 154 miles (247.8 km) section of the Pacific Crest Trail
Pacific Crest Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail on the Western Seaboard of the United States. The southern terminus is at the California border with Mexico...

  in an east - west direction.

The 500-mile Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway
Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway
The Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway is an All-American Road in the U.S. states of California and Oregon. It is roughly 500 miles long and travels through the Cascade Range past numerous volcanoes. It is composed of two separate National Scenic Byways, the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway - Oregon and...

 is an auto tour of northern California's volcanos and begins at Mount Lassen, then to Mount Shasta and ends at Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park is a United States National Park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake National Park is the sixth oldest national park in the United States and the only one in the state of Oregon...

.

Lookouts and cabins

In the lavaflow area of Medicine Lake Volcano
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 Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range. The thick shield is from east to west and from...

, 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. There is also Hirz lookout near Lake Shasta and the Post lookout.

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.

External links

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