Resources And Links

Hiking Books and Maps

We recommend that you procure your hiking guides, maps, nature books, and special-interest books at one of the following two outlets in Mt. Shasta:  The Fifth Season, or the Mt. Shasta Ranger Station.  These resources can also be found in either Redding or Medford.

Regarding maps, the trail guides on our website include maps for most of the trails. Thus, you can print up those maps, or view them on a smartphone.   Also, the Hike Mt. Shasta website includes maps with each of its trail descriptions.

Should you choose to shop online, remember that purchases made through Amazon Smile will dedicate 0.5% of the purchase to the Trail Association when you designate the MSTA as your chosen charity.  Here’s the link:  https://smile.amazon.com/

Local and Regional Links

LOCAL WEEKLY HIKES The Siskiyou Wanderers (http://www.siskiyouwanderers.com) meet every Wednesday rain or shine to do a hike in Siskiyou County. They are a very congenial group that loves to explore our region. Indulge your wanderlust and contact them now.

A local hiker — Bubba Suess — has created an impressive site containing trail descriptions, photographs, and maps.  Check it out at http://hikemtshasta.com/.

A key local partner for the Trail Association is the Mount Shasta Mountain Bike Association, otherwise known as BikeShasta.  Check out their website at:  http://bikeshasta.org/

Siskiyou Land Trust http://www.siskiyoulandtrust.org/. The Siskiyou Land Trust (SLT) is a community based non-profit organization that strives to protect open space, ranch and farmlands, forest and wetlands, natural resources, scenic viewsheds and wildlife habitat in beautiful Siskiyou County.

The Northern California Hiking Trails Blog is written by John Soares, co-author of 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California, third edition, and author of 75 Hikes in California’s Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park Regions. The blog covers trails and outdoors news for all of Northern California. John is a long-time freelance writer for nonprofits and businesses, a resident of far Northern California for most of his life, and a MSTA Board Director for several years.

The College of the Siskiyous has compiled an incredible amount of information on Mount Shasta.  Here’s the link:  http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (http://www.volcaniclegacybyway.org/) This site details how you can explore and enjoy the southern Cascades volcanic region from Lake Almanor to Crater Lake.

A new guide to wildflowers in the Mount Shasta area is now available.  The book was created by Jane Cohn, Linda Freeman, Ken Goehring, and Michael Zanger. You’ll want to add it to your hiking and trails bookshelf. Check it out here: http://mountshastawildflowers.com/

Explore the geology of Mount Shasta at http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/documents/introgeo.pdf.

Investigate the natural history and physical geography of the Mount Shasta area at http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/env/index.htm.

Sisson Museum (https://www.mtshastamuseum.com/) is located at the Fish Hatchery where Lake Street meets Old Stage Road just west of the town of Mount Shasta. It has a wealth of information on local history. You also have the opportunity to visit the fish hatchery itself, likely under the watchful eyes of hungry osprey.

The Upper Sacramento River Exchange was very active promoting the health of local streams and watersheds. They also construct and improve trails in the area.  Unfortunately, their website has gone inactive.

Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center http://www.mountshastaecology.org/

Shasta-Cascade: Siskiyou County https://www.visitcalifornia.com/region/shasta-cascade/

California Native Plant Society http://www.cnps.org/

Siskiyou County Visitors Bureau https://discoversiskiyou.com/

Mount Shasta Chamber of Commerce http://mtshastachamber.com/

Dunsmuir Chamber of Commerce http://dunsmuir.com/

McCloud Chamber of Commerce http://www.mccloudchamber.com/

Weed Chamber of Commerce http://www.weedchamber.com/

Yreka Chamber of Commerce http://www.yrekachamber.com/

Shasta-Trinity National Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity/

Klamath National Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/klamath/

Modoc National Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/modoc/

Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail http://www.fs.fed.us/pct/

Pacific Crest Trail Association http://www.pcta.org

National Links

CalTopo (App / Website used by MSTA to create most of our trail maps, can be used on your phone):  https://caltopo.com

AllTrails.com http://www.alltrails.com  MSTA previously used and suggested trails to AllTrails.  As of 2020 we stopped adding new links to their website because: their USGS Topo Layer became offset enough that it can no longer be relied on to micro-navigate (e.g. find old trails) and they have started indicating trails as “Curated” without any human direct input or review (i.e. routes along knife back ridges that can not be considered any kind of trail and used only once by a user)  They have been informed of these issues, acknowledged the issues and not made fixes. (4/2021)

Audobon Society http://www.audubon.org/

Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org/

The Nature Conservancy http://www.nature.org/

American Hiking Society http://www.americanhiking.org/ Its mission is to promote and protect foot trails and the hiking experience.

http://www.backpacker.com/ The home site of Backpacker magazine. Lots of information on gear, destinations, and techniques.

Quitday – an effort to help people stop smoking and enjoy the out-of-doors https://quitday.org/support/outdoors-enthusiasts/

Any Place America – online maps – https://www.anyplaceamerica.com/