Attractions and Places To See in Mt. Shasta Wilderness - Top 16

Clear Creek route is frequently used for one-day trips up and down Mt Shasta from the trailhead, which can be pleasant to just have to carry a daypack. However, it is a significant elevation and means for slower hikers to miss out on a lot of the beauty along the lower sections as they climb/descent these in the dark. While most who want to break it into several days camp near the water sources at Clear Creek Springs, there is a set of decently flat bivouac /camp sites at 3333 m (about 11000 ft) elevation. No water, and more wind exposed, but they might save slower climbers an hour or two in the morning.

Excellent shelter hut for winter ascents, though should not be used for camping by non-members except for emergencies.

In the fall you can literally hike up to the summit of this tallest free-standing mountain in the lower US via the eastern route without climbing or any snow. The standard Avalanche Gulch route would be too dangerous without snow due to frequent life-threatening rockfall.

Olberman's Causeway is a path built over many years by the guard living at the Sierra Club's Horse Camp Hut; it leads up Avalanche Gulch to the standard route to climb Mt Shasta. It is typically not visible under the snow in spring/early summer when it is safer to climb as long as snow holds the loose rocks in place that pose a severe rock fall danger (helmets are essential here). Most people camp around 10000 feet at Lake Helen on Day 1 and summit the next morning. For a winter route climbing from Horse Camp via Casaval Ridge and descending via Avalanche Gulch see: https://www.komoot.de/tour/9090975

Avalanche Gulch is the standard route to climb Mt Shasta, typically done in spring/early summer as long as snow holds the loose rocks in place that pose a severe rock fall danger (helmets are essential here). Most people camp around 10000 feet at Lake Helen on Day 1 and summit the next morning. For a winter route climbing from Horse Camp via Casaval Ridge and descending via Avalanche Gulch see: https://www.komoot.com/tour/9090975

Tallest free standing Cascade volcano in California. For a winter snowshoe/crampon ascent route via Casaval Ridge and descent via standard Avalanche Gulch route see: https://www.komoot.com/tour/9090975 For an AT ski ascent and descent via West Face see: https://www.komoot.com/tour/9089213 For the least technical snow-free route via Clear Creek Trail see https://www.komoot.com/tour/277653983

Horse Camp is a property on Mount Shasta owned by the nonprofit Sierra Club Foundation. It is a 720-acre (2.9 km2) enclave within the Mount Shasta Wilderness of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California, United States. It is located at approximately 7,950 feet (2,420 m) elevation at the lower end of Avalanche Gulch, the most popular climbing route on the mountain. Horse Camp is accessible from the Bunny Flat trailhead by hiking approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) on a developed trail with an elevation gain of about 950 feet (290 m). The most notable feature of Horse Camp is the Shasta Alpine Lodge, a climber's hut constructed in 1923. Mostly indigenous materials were used for construction, including volcanic rock and Shasta red fir. The lodge can be used for emergency shelter for climbers. It contains a guest register, a library of mountain books, and displays about Mount Shasta. Other features of Horse Camp include a freshwater spring, low impact campsites, and a solar-powered composting toilet facility. The lodge measures about 450 square feet (42 m2), and was financed primarily by a donor named Hall McAllister at a cost of $6,725. A caretaker is on duty during the summer months. The first caretaker (1923–1934) was Joseph Macatee "Mac" Olberman (1862–1946). With the help of volunteers, Olberman built a 950 yard long flagstone paved path leading uphill from Horse Camp to facilitate access to the Avalanche Gulch climbing route. This structure still exists and is known as Olberman's Causeway. The camp and the lodge are open year round, even when no caretaker is on duty. Horse Camp is utilized as a mountaineering base camp for ascents of Mount Shasta by Avalanche Gulch, Casaval Ridge, the West Face Gully and other routes on the south and west side of the mountain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Camp http://www.sierraclubfoundation.org/what-we-fund/horse-camp-mt-shasta

Mount Shasta (Karuk: Úytaahkoo or "White Mountain") is a potentially active volcano located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 feet (4321.8 m), it is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California. Mount Shasta has an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles (350 km3), which makes it the most voluminous stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. Shasta dominates the northern California landscape. It rises abruptly and stands nearly 10,000 ft (3,000 m) above the surrounding terrain. On a clear winter day, snowy Mount Shasta can be seen from the floor of the Central Valley 140 miles (230 km) to the south. The mountain consists of four overlapping volcanic cones that have built a complex shape, including the main summit and the prominent satellite cone of 12,330 ft (3,760 m) Shastina, which has a visibly conical form. If Shastina were a separate mountain, it would rank as the fourth-highest peak of the Cascade Range (after Mount Rainier, Rainier's Liberty Cap, and Mount Shasta itself). Mount Shasta's surface is relatively free of deep glacial erosion except, paradoxically, for its south side where Sargents Ridge runs parallel to the U-shaped Avalanche Gulch. This is the largest glacial valley on the volcano, although it does not presently have a glacier in it. There are seven named glaciers on Mount Shasta, with the four largest (Whitney, Bolam, Hotlum, and Wintun) radiating down from high on the main summit cone to below 10,000 ft (3,000 m) primarily on the north and east sides. The Whitney Glacier is the longest, and the Hotlum is the most voluminous glacier in the state of California. Three of the smaller named glaciers occupy cirques near and above 11,000 ft (3,400 m) on the south and southeast sides, including the Watkins, Konwakiton, and Mud Creek glaciers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Shasta