Must-see attractions in Northern Mountains

Lassen Peak, the world’s largest plug-dome volcano, rises 2000ft over the surrounding landscape to 10,457ft above sea level. Classified as an active…

The walls here basically talk – they’re papered inside with 150-year-old donation ledgers from the once-thriving Chinese community, the immigrants who…

Resembling a beached cruise ship, the shimmering-white 2004 Sundial Bridge spans the river and is one of Redding’s marquee attractions, providing an…

You'll come across views of Mt Shasta either peaking over a ridge or completely dominating the landscape, from the Oregon border and even into the east…

The stars of this glorious state park alongside Castle Crags Wilderness Area are its soaring spires of ancient granite formed some 225 million years ago,…

Lassen Peak, the world’s largest plug-dome volcano, rises 2000ft over the surrounding landscape to 10,457ft above sea level. Classified as an active…

A visit here comes with serious bragging rights as the abundant springs, aquamarine bays and islets, and jagged flows of black basalt lava are truly off…

Perched on a shield volcano, Lava Beds National Monument is a truly remarkable 47,000-acre landscape of geological features – lava flows, craters, cinder…

On Hwy 299, 6 miles west of Redding, this state historic park preserves the ruins of an 1850s Gold Rush mining town called Shasta – not to be confused…

Fed by a spring, the splashing 129ft-tall waterfalls flow at the same temperature, 42°F (6°C), year-round. Rangers are quick to point out that it might…

On scale with the enormous natural features of the area, this colossal, 15-million-ton concrete dam is second only in size to Grand Coolie Dam in…

High in the limestone megaliths at the north end of the lake hide these impressive caves. Tours through the many chambers dripping with massive formations…

Situated on 300 meandering acres, this is an artistic, cultural and scientific center for visitors of all ages, with an emphasis on the Sacramento River…

An old mining town lent the rich name to Whiskeytown Lake, a lovely, multi-use reservoir that was dedicated by John F Kennedy less than two months before…

Jaunt over to little-known, utterly picturesque Alpen Cellars. Specializing in Riesling, Gewürtztraminer, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the vineyard is open…

Since 1978 the Wild Horse Sanctuary has been sheltering horses and burros that would otherwise have been destroyed. You can visit its humble visitors…

The huge McCloud Mercantile anchors the downtown. There’s a hotel upstairs and it hosts a couple of restaurants that warrant a longer stay, but those just…

A half-mile west of the freeway, this former hatchery headquarters is full of curious mountaineering artifacts and old pictures. The changing exhibitions…

Off Mt Shasta Blvd, about a mile north of downtown, the headwaters of the Sacramento River gurgle up from the ground in a large, cool spring. It’s about…

In the block behind the courthouse, this multifloor county museum has flowering gardens, as well as hundreds of historical photos and relics from the…