Mount Shasta Area Recommendations

[Abies]

I’ll be driving from Mendocino county to Portland this weekend and am thinking about camping somewhere around Mount Shasta and getting a ride or two in since I’ve never checked it out. The only catch is that I will have my dog. He is a well trained and good on trail but I don’t want to bring him somewhere inappropriate. Looks like dogs need to be on leash in the Gateway system, so any other recommendations? Also looking for beta on good camping spots!

[Dantheman]

The bottom half of Sisson Callahan is probably dry. You could pedal up 41N53 to the mid-point and descend SC from there. SC is awesome and no one will care about your dog. There's a parking area marker for the SC mid-point on Trailforks and the loop is pretty obvious on the Trailforks heat map. The caveats with this suggestion are that I've heard that runoff is still high so getting across the river at the bottom might be a problem, and deadfall may not have been cleared. There's also good camp spots up 41N53.

If Bear Springs to Steam Donkey to MX is open that's a great descent with a nice pedal to the top. It's part of the Gateway system but that side is less busy and people may or may not care. There's also a fun off-map bonus segment below MX down to 89. Also super obvious on the heat map.

That new Lemurian Delirum trail looks cool but I haven't ridden it.

[BFD]

better train the dog to drive shuttle for Lemurian Delirium. I think I camped off the Everitt memorial pkwy at the beginning of 40N76. It was snow covered but I was wondering if there is camping off that road. Seems that would be an easy way to access Bear Springs and get a feel for the dog. I have no idea how much traffic that road gets. Anyway, awesome area and cool that they are doing a large expansion.

[Dantheman]

If you camp off Everitt just be sure you're high enough to not be on timber plantation land.

[Abies]

Great info, thanks everyone. I’ll scope out the farther off trails with the dog but bail if it seems wrong. Unfortunately the dog can’t drive a manual. Working on it.

[Abies]

If Bear Springs to Steam Donkey to MX is open that's a great descent with a nice pedal to the top. It's part of the Gateway system but that side is less busy and people may or may not care. There's also a fun off-map bonus segment below MX down to 89. Also super obvious on the heat map.

I did this, but climbed the roads instead of Bear Springs since I saw a lot of people descending it. Fun trail, and there were several other people with dogs. Nice area, hope I can get back soon for some more riding.