A Weekend Road Trip to Redding & the Shasta Cascade Region

Written by Brian Callender | Photography by Julie Boyd

This post was sponsored by Visit Redding, but all opinions are our own.

Since moving to Northern California in early 2017, the opportunity for new adventures has remained a constant in our lives. We push ourselves to take advantage of every weekend opportunity to explore our ever-growing list of must-visits. An early season visit to the Shasta Cascade Region in February introduced us to one of our favorite California hikes, and we quickly fell in love with the area. We eagerly began making plans for a return visit when the snow melted and spend more time in the region.

Getting There

From the South Bay of Northern California, the drive to our home base in Redding is about 4 hours. As is always the case with the Bay Area, much of this boils down to traffic. We left in the early evening on a Thursday and ran into some patches of traffic until we got past Sacramento. Beyond Sacramento, the drive is a straight shot on the 5 freeway all the way to Redding.

Where to Stay

For our first visit to Redding in February, we were pleasantly surprised at just how big a city Redding actually is. There are plenty of smaller hotel options to choose from and most are very budget friendly. On this trip, we stayed at the Comfort Inn Redding which is close to the freeway and easily accessible to a variety of dining options in the city. Book your room here!

Eats!

Breakfast — We started off our day right with a delicious breakfast at Deja Vu in downtown Redding. Located in a historic building, they have an extensive menu and we arrived early enough to beat the crowds. On our second day, we had breakfast at Trendy’s, just outside of downtown. Another tasty meal, and you really can’t go wrong with breakfast food!

Dinner – After a long day of hiking, we usually like something casual and enjoyed a burger and a beer at Final Draft Brewing Company. Coincidentally, it’s right next door to Deja Vu!

What to Do

There are no shortage of great activities from Redding, which is a big reason why we loved making it our home base.

Sundial Bridge

The Sundial Bridge was created in 2004 and is a landmark location in Redding. When we visited, the bridge was busy with tourists and bikers alike, enjoying the day as they crossed the Sacramento River.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Just 45 miles from Redding and a 50 minute drive, Lassen National Park was the main attraction for our visit to the Shasta-Cascade region. We were excited to cross off another National Park from our list and hike the namesake peak. Lassen is a great mix of landscapes, thanks in large part to its history of volcanic activity. There we explored waterfalls, bubbling mud pots, lush green forests, shimmering lakes, and the towering Lassen Peak.

Waterfalls

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North of Redding is a Waterfall Loop that takes you to see several waterfalls of differing shapes and sizes. We started with Potem Falls, about an hour from Redding which includes 9 miles on an unpaved road. Although we forgot our swimsuits, I took a quick dip in my hiking shorts!

After cooling off in Potem Falls, we drove an hour to Burney Falls for our second visit to these spectacular falls. A summer day meant the falls were crowded, but no less beautiful than our first visit in February.

Our next stop led us to McCloud Falls which has three different viewpoints: Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls. Middle Falls was our favorite of the three falls and was filled with people out to escape the heat.

We finished off a long day in the car with pizza and a beer at Siskiyou Brew Works in the small town of McCloud.

Conclusion

There are no shortage of activities in the Shasta-Cascade region and we can’t wait to return and explore again! Despite the impacts of the Carr Fire, Redding and the surrounding cities are resilient and we look forward to giving the local community our business and support.

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