Shasta weekend — Sep 25–27

⛰️ Saturday afternoon (updated)
Warm by 2–4pm (~24°C). Swimsuits, towels, a warm layer, water bottles.

✅ Hedge Creek Falls, done
✅ Lunch at Highland House, done

💦 12:30 Headwaters spring, Mt Shasta City Park (10 min): fill the bottles
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.32776,-122.32579

🚗 1:00 Drive to McCloud (31 min)

👀 1:30 Upper Falls + Middle Falls overlook (optional, flat, ~30 min)
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.24465,-122.0088

🌊 2:00 Middle McCloud Falls, from the FOWLER CAMP lot
Flat 0.7 mi to the big falls. Don't take the steep switchbacks from the overlook
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.24465,-122.02181

🏊 3:15 Lower McCloud Falls: swim
Stone steps into the pool. Water 8–11°C, so a quick dip. No jumping
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.24027,-122.0252

🏖️ 4:30 Lake Siskiyou (31 min): warm swim (17–19°C) + sunset 6:59
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.2859,-122.32376

🔥 7:15 Back to camp: BBQ + fire

Full page: https://artifact.sahirm.com/a/shasta-weekend-sep-2026/#saturday

All the waterfallsBest first. Drive is one way from Cave Springs Resort; walk is one way from the car. Google Maps opens directions to the parking spot.

💧 How much water right now. The USGS gauge on the upper Sacramento at Delta read 215 cfs tonight. The 81-year median for 26 September is 213, so this is a completely normal late September. What that means: spring-fed falls are full (all three McCloud falls, Burney, Mossbrae). Rain- and snowmelt-fed creeks are at their seasonal low (Hedge Creek thin, Faery low, Root Creek and Sweetbriar probably dry). The photos are mostly spring shots, so expect less at those four.

Middle McCloud Falls

⭐ Recommended

The showpiece: a 50 ft curtain. Walk in flat from the Fowler Camp lot

‹›1 / 3

Drive31 min

Walk0.7 mi, flat

Swim✅ Yes, 8–11°C (cold)

Water nowFull. Spring-fed, holds up all autumn

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Lower McCloud Falls

⭐ Recommended

The swimming one: stone steps into a deep pool, 2 minutes from the car

‹›1 / 3

Drive31 min

Walk0.1 mi, flat

Swim✅ Yes, 8–11°C (cold)

Water nowFull. Spring-fed

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Hedge Creek Falls

⭐ Recommended

2 minutes from the door, and you walk behind the falls

‹›1 / 3

Drive2 min

Walk0.2 mi, 76 ft back up

Swim💧 Wade only (river below is 14–16°C)

Water nowLow but running: a thin curtain

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Upper McCloud Falls

👍 Worth it

Worth the flat 10-minute add-on while you're at McCloud

‹›1 / 3

Drive32 min

Walk0.4 mi, flat

Swim❌ No, viewpoint only

Water nowFull. Spring-fed

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Burney Falls

👍 Worth it

Spectacular and guaranteed water, but you've dropped it

‹›1 / 3

Drive~1 h 10

Walk0.2 mi (131 ft down to base)

Swim❌ No (6°C, banned)

Water nowFull. 100 million gallons a day, all year

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Faery Falls

👍 Worth it

Sunday option A: a 30 min walk up, and the viewpoint is easy. Water is low and the last bit to the pool is a scramble

‹›1 / 3

Drive23 min

Walk0.7 mi, 259 ft up + scramble

Swim⚠️ Yes, but a loose scramble (10–13°C)

Water nowLow: a fraction of the spring photos

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Root Creek Falls

⛔ Skip

Nice walk, but the falls usually stops by late summer

‹›1 / 3

Drive17 min

Walk1.6 mi + sketchy scramble

Swim❌ No

Water nowProbably dry at the falls

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Sweetbriar Falls

⛔ Skip

Tiny and likely a damp rock this late

Drive13 min

Walk0.2 mi

Swim❌ No

Water nowTrickle at best

📍 Google MapsWalk map & details ↓

Mossbrae Falls

⛔ Skip

The prettiest of all, but the only way in is along live railroad track. Don't

‹›1 / 3

Drive6 min

Walk—

Swim❌ No legal access

Water nowFull. Spring-fed, all year

Warmer swims that aren’t waterfalls: Cantara Loop (16 min, 13–16°C) and Lake Siskiyou (15 min, 17–19°C, the warmest).

The weekendTimes are targets, not a schedule.

🌊

Sunday drive home: 4 water stops

Pick one. Detour = extra driving vs going straight home

📱 WhatsApp version

🌊 Drive home: 4 water stops (pick one)
Straight home = ~4.5–5 h. Detour = extra driving on top of that.

🅰️ CRYSTAL CREEK FALLS (Whiskeytown)
💧 A waterfall that runs all year + a swim hole at the base
🌡️ Water ~14–17°C (estimate)
🚶 0.4 mi each way, PAVED and flat. Short steep dirt path down to the pool
🚗 Detour: +75 min
🎟️ $25/car park pass, card only
🛍️ No downtown (lunch in Redding)
🏠 Home ~7:30
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Crystal+Creek+Falls+Crystal+Creek+Rd+Whiskeytown+CA

🅱️ RIVER SWIM HOLES BY CAMP (Hedge Creek river + Cantara Loop)
💧 Two Sacramento River spots
🌡️ Water 13–16°C (Cantara from real gauge records)
🚶 Hedge Creek: 0.3 mi down past the falls to the river (167 ft back up). Cantara: 0.25 mi flat along the river to a gravel beach
🚗 Detour: +30 min (Cantara is 16 min north)
🛍️ Bonus: small downtown Dunsmuir (shops open from 12)
🏠 Home ~7
📍 Cantara parking: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.26602,-122.30775

🅲 CASTLE CRAGS RIVER TRAIL
💧 Flat walk down to the rushing Sacramento, rocks to sit on and feet in the water, granite spires above
🌡️ Water ~15–17°C (estimate)
🚶 ~1.1 mi flat each way from the park entrance lot (~25 min). Follow the "River Trail" signs, under I-5
🚗 Detour: basically none (+5 min)
🎟️ $8/car
🛍️ Bonus: downtown Dunsmuir, 2 min from camp
🏠 Home ~6:30–7
📍 Park entrance: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=41.14781,-122.32040

🅳 CHICO, BIDWELL PARK (Big Chico Creek)
💧 Creek swimming holes. Bear Hole: clear pools in a rock gorge. Easier: One Mile / Sycamore Pool, flat and shady
🌡️ Water ~18–21°C (estimate). The warmest of the four
🚶 Bear Hole: park right above it (weekend dirt road), then ~100 yds of steep scramble. One Mile: a few steps from the car
🚗 Detour: +55 min (One Mile) / +85 min (Bear Hole)
🛍️ Bonus: the BEST downtown, Chico boutiques open till 6
🏠 Home ~7:30–8
📍 https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=One+Mile+Recreation+Area+Bidwell+Park+Chico+CA

📋 Copy for WhatsApp

Weather & windDry all three days. The story is the wind: calm every morning, building hard after midday on Saturday.

Hour by hour, where you’ll actually be

🛈 This is a 5–7 day forecast, so treat the numbers as the shape of the weekend rather than gospel — wind especially. Re-check Thursday; the temperatures will hold up better than the gusts. Model: Open-Meteo, elevation-corrected per site (camp 805 m, McCloud 1,007 m, Burney 902 m, Bunny Flat 2,110 m).

Can you actually get in?Short version. Tap a name for the parking pin and the map.

How cold is the water, really

Every body of water on this page, with a late-September temperature and how much I trust it. Only one of these is an actual measurement — the rest are physical reasoning or estimates, and I've labelled which is which.

Every falls in detailParking pin, measured distance and grade, map of the walk, swim verdict.

Hedge Creek Falls

Dunsmuir — 3 min from camp

~30 ftSunday morning

💧

Wading only at the falls — the swim hole is further down

The falls drops into a shallow pool; there is no swimming under it. You can walk into the basalt alcove behind the curtain, which is the real reason to come. If you want to actually get in, carry on down the trail to where Hedge Creek meets the Sacramento — the current slows there and it's a proper (cold) swim hole with easy rapids below.

💧 10–13°C creek · 14–16°C river Hedge Creek, and the Sacramento at the confluence Part measured

No gauge on Hedge Creek — that's a shaded-small-creek estimate. The river number is solid: the USGS gauge 6 km upstream at Cantara logged a mean daily max of 14.0°C for 20 late Septembers, and the water picks up a degree or so by Dunsmuir.

The creek pool under the falls is shallow and cold and you'd only be paddling anyway. The river swim hole at the confluence is the realistic swim — mid-teens, which a fit adult can happily do for 20–30 minutes.

Parking: Hedge Creek Falls Parking, corner of Dunsmuir Ave & Siskiyou Ave. Free, unpaved, small — fills on weekends.

Parking → the falls (walk behind it)

Distance0.19 mi310 m, one way

Elevation76 ft down23.1 m net

Average grade7.5%moderate

Steepest stretch22.8%90th percentile

Downhill on the way in, so the climb is on the way back. Dirt + a short tunnel under I-5, rocky in a couple of spots. No railing.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.23613, -122.26999

Parking → the river swim hole (past the falls)

Distance0.34 mi547 m, one way

Elevation167 ft down50.8 m net

Average grade9.3%steep

Steepest stretch18.5%90th percentile

The trail keeps descending past the falls to an overlook deck and the river. This is the steeper half — and it's 167 ft back up to the car from the bottom.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.23613, -122.26999

What it'll look like: Late September is low flow — expect a curtain, not a torrent. The alcove is the draw either way.

Sources: Hikespeak · Discover Siskiyou

Lower McCloud Falls

McCloud River Loop — 35 min east of Dunsmuir

~12 ftSaturday morning

🚶

Yes — this is the swimming one

The best swimming hole of the three: a wide rock shelf to sit on, a stone staircase into the water, and a deep pool. Do not jump or dive — boulders have shifted into the popular jumping spots and it is now genuinely dangerous. Water is snowmelt-cold year round.

🧊 8–11°C Lower McCloud plunge pool Well established

The upper McCloud is spring-fed: Big Springs pushes a near-constant 7°C into the river year round, and it historically never left the river above 15°C. Visitors measure 45–52°F (7–11°C) at Lower Falls even when the air is near 38°C.

Swimmable, but this is properly cold. Expect the gasp reflex on entry — walk in down the stone stairs rather than jumping, and plan on 10–15 minutes in the water, not an afternoon.

Parking: Lower Falls Day Use Area lot, off Fowler Public Camp Rd. Free, toilets, picnic tables.

Parking → the falls

Distance0.08 mi132 m, one way

Elevation14 ft down4.2 m net

Average grade3.2%gentle

Steepest stretch22.9%90th percentile

Effectively flat — 145 steps-worth of nothing. A stone staircase drops from the rock shelf to the water.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.24027, -122.02520

What it'll look like: Short and wide rather than tall. The pool is the attraction.

Sources: Mt Shasta Trail Association · USFS

Middle McCloud Falls

McCloud River Loop — the big one

~50 ftSaturday morning

🚶

Yes — swimming is popular at the base

Big plunge pool below a 50-ft curtain, and people swim it all summer. Same rule as Lower: no jumping. Late September water is 8–11°C — not “bracing”, genuinely cold. Bring a towel and something dry to change into.

🧊 8–11°C Middle McCloud plunge pool Well established

Same spring-fed water as Lower Falls, a kilometre upstream, plus constant spray off a 15 m curtain keeping the basin air cool.

Colder-feeling than Lower because of the spray and the shade. Fine for a quick swim; bring a towel and a dry layer to change into or the parents will be miserable in the wind afterwards.

Parking: Fowler Camp / Middle Falls trailhead lot (for the base). For the overlook only, use the Upper Falls lot instead — pin below.

⚠️ The switchback trail connecting the overlook down to the base drops 165 ft in a quarter mile (~12% average). Don't route the parents down it — drive round to Fowler Camp and walk in flat instead.

Fowler Camp lot → the base of the falls

Distance0.7 mi1130 m, one way

Elevation44 ft up13.5 m net

Average grade1.2%essentially flat

Steepest stretch4.8%90th percentile

THE parent-friendly route. Packed dirt along the river, near-level the whole way — 46 ft of gain spread over 0.7 mi. No scrambling, no stairs.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.24465, -122.02181

Upper Falls lot → the clifftop overlook

Distance0.1 mi154 m, one way

Elevation5 ft down1.5 m net

Average grade1.0%essentially flat

Steepest stretch10.2%90th percentile

If anyone doesn't want to walk at all: 100 yards from the car to a railed view straight down the falls.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.24465, -122.00880

What it'll look like: The most photogenic of the three, and holds water well into autumn.

Sources: Mt Shasta Trail Association · AllTrails

Upper McCloud Falls

McCloud River Loop — top of the three

~40 ftSaturday morning

🚫

No — look, don't swim

There is no sanctioned trail to the base of Upper Falls. People do get in the pools above the lip, which sit directly above a 40-ft drop into a narrow gorge — that's the one to say no to. Treat this as a viewpoint.

🧊 8–11°C Upper McCloud (pools above the lip) Well established

Same river, same springs.

Academic — you're not getting in here. Cold water plus a slick basalt lip above a 12 m drop is the single most dangerous combination on this page.

Parking: Upper Falls lot (same lot as the Middle Falls overlook). Free.

Parking → the viewpoint

Distance0.41 mi663 m, one way

Elevation8 ft down2.5 m net

Average grade0.4%essentially flat

Steepest stretch10.0%90th percentile

Flat forest path along the rim — 36 ft of up and 43 ft of down across the whole 0.4 mi. Easiest walk of the weekend.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.24465, -122.00880

What it'll look like: Narrow chute through a basalt slot — the most dramatic-looking, least accessible.

Sources: Mt Shasta Trail Association

Burney Falls

McArthur–Burney Falls SP — 1h20 east of McCloud

129 ftSaturday midday$10/vehicle + $1 fee — RESERVATION REQUIRED

🚫

No — swimming is prohibited

Burney Creek is spring-fed and runs about 6°C (42°F) with strong currents under the falls; swimming at the falls is not allowed. The legal swim is Lake Britton's beach, inside the same park about 1.5 mi north — bring suits if you want it.

❌ 6°C Burney Creek Well established

Entirely spring-fed from inside the basalt. The flow and the temperature are both constant year-round — the creek rarely gets above 42°F (6°C) in any season.

Do not get in, and it isn't only a rules thing. 6°C is cold-shock water: involuntary gasp, loss of breathing control within a minute, useful swimming ability gone in a few more. Lake Britton, 2.5 km north inside the same park, is 16–19°C — that's where you swim at Burney.

Parking: Main day-use lot (21 spaces + overflow). Reservation required Fri/Sat/Sun through Sep 27 — this is the final weekend of the pilot. Same-day reservations are NOT sold.

Parking → the base of the falls

Distance0.21 mi332 m, one way

Elevation132 ft down40.3 m net

Average grade12.1%steep

Steepest stretch49.3%90th percentile

The rim viewpoint is ~100 yards from the car on pavement — that alone is worth the trip and needs no effort. Going down to the base is 131 ft of descent on switchbacks with some stepped sections; the work is the climb back out.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.01258, -121.65024

What it'll look like: 100 million gallons a day, year-round, straight out of the rock face. Unaffected by the dry season — the one guaranteed spectacle of the weekend.

Sources: CA State Parks · Reservation pilot announcement

Faery Falls (Ney Springs)

Above Lake Siskiyou — 15 min from Mt Shasta City

~40 ftOptional / if you skip Burney

⚠️

There's a pool, but getting into it is a scramble

A 40-ft cataract into a plunge pool you can swim. The catch is the access: the viewpoint at the top of the scramble is easy enough, the descent to the water is hands-on and loose. Parents to the viewpoint, swimmers down the scramble, or skip it entirely.

🧊 10–13°C Ney Springs Creek Estimate

Estimate, not a measurement — there is no gauge on this creek. A small, heavily-shaded forest creek at 1,200 m in late September sits a few degrees above the McCloud and below the Sacramento.

Cold and shallow, and you have to do a loose scramble to reach it. Treat the pool as a foot-dip rather than a swim, and don't route your parents down the last 150 m at all.

Parking: Roadside pullout where Ney Springs Rd stops being drivable. Unpaved and bumpy the last stretch — fine for a normal car taken slowly, not fine in the dark.

⚠️ The last 150 yards to the plunge pool is a use-trail scramble — OSM has it tagged loose steep slope, 15% grade, poor visibility. Fine for you and Preksha; not a route for the parents.

Road-end → the falls

Distance0.69 mi1108 m, one way

Elevation258 ft up78.5 m net

Average grade7.1%moderate

Steepest stretch13.3%90th percentile

Uphill on the way IN (259 ft over 0.7 mi) along an old roadbed, so the tired direction is the outbound one. Steady rather than steep — but it's the most walking of any falls here.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.26599, -122.32415

What it'll look like: Ney Springs Creek is small — late September will be a modest flow.

Sources: Hikespeak · Discover Siskiyou

Closer to campYou asked what else is near the pin. Everything here is a 4–17 minute drive from the door — measured and mapped the same way as the rest.

Cantara Loop swim hole

Upper Sacramento River — 5.6 mi / 14 min north

No falls — riverHot afternoon, or Sunday

🚶

Yes — and it's the closest proper swim to camp

This is the local swimming spot, not a tourist one: a small beach, a slow deep pool, and nobody selling you anything. Late September river water runs 13–16°C by the afternoon — measured, not guessed; see the water-temperature note below. Cold on entry, fine once you're in, and a world away from Burney's 6°C spring. Current is gentle at the pool and picks up below it, so keep an eye on anyone who isn't a strong swimmer.

💧 13–16°C Upper Sacramento River Measured

This one is measured. USGS gauge 11341400 sits 400 m from the beach and recorded daily water temperature for 20 years. For 25–30 September the mean daily max was 14.0°C (range 10.0–17.3) and the mean daily min 11.4°C. The record ends in 1987, so add roughly a degree for regional warming since.

The best swimming water within 15 minutes of camp, and by a wide margin the warmest moving water on this trip. Mid-teens is a real swim for anyone reasonably fit — noticeably cold for the first minute, then fine. Go in the afternoon; it's ~3°C colder at dawn.

Parking: Dirt pullout at the bottom of Cantara Loop Rd. From camp: Dunsmuir Ave north to Mott Rd, 5 mi, left on Cantara Rd, 1 mi down to the river, turn right. Gravel and free. No toilets, no tables, no shade at the beach.

📜 The thing nobody mentions: this is the Cantara Loop. In July 1991 a Southern Pacific tanker derailed on this exact curve and dumped roughly 19,000 gallons of the soil fumigant metam sodium into the river, killing essentially every living thing for 45 miles down to Lake Shasta. The river recovered — it's been a blue-ribbon wild trout fishery again for two decades and the swimming is fine. Worth knowing because you'll be standing right under the curve it happened on.

Parking → the swimming hole

Distance0.24 mi388 m, one way

Elevation13 ft up4.0 m net

Average grade1.0%essentially flat

Steepest stretch6.3%90th percentile

A riverside footpath upstream, flat the whole way — 13 ft of rise across a quarter mile. Ends at a small gravel beach in the crook of the railroad loop. The easiest walk on this entire page.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.26602, -122.30775

What it'll look like: A green river pool under a railroad horseshoe, pine on both banks. Photogenic in a completely different way to the falls.

Sources: Discover Siskiyou · CDFW Cantara spill / river access

Sweetbriar Falls

Castella — 9.8 mi / 14 min south

~15–20 ftSunday, on the way out

💧

Paddle at best

A small chute into a shallow basin. People cool their feet; nobody swims it. If you want water on this side of the freeway, Castle Crags' river frontage on the Sacramento is a better bet.

🪹 — Sweetbriar Creek No data

Small rain- and snowmelt-fed creek with no gauge and no late-season flow data.

There may not be enough water to have a temperature. Don't plan on getting in.

Parking: There is no lot. Take the Sweetbrier Ave exit off I-5, cross the river bridge and the railroad at the level crossing (a normal road crossing — nothing like Mossbrae), then pull over on Falls Avenue. It is a residential lane, so park considerately and don't block driveways.

⚠️ Set expectations low. The World Waterfall Database lists it as unconfirmed and flags that it may not carry enough flow to qualify as a waterfall at all in dry months. Late September is the driest it gets. Treat this as a five-minute leg-stretch if you are already stopping in Castella — not as a destination.

Roadside → the falls

Distance0.21 mi340 m, one way

Elevation39 ft down11.9 m net

Average grade3.5%gentle

Steepest stretch13.7%90th percentile

Walk east along Falls Avenue; the falls is about 30 m off the lane at the bend. Gentle, 40 ft of drop, two minutes of effort. Wheelchair-unfriendly at the very end but fine for anyone walking.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.13042, -122.32146

What it'll look like: Spring: a genuine 15–20 ft chute. Late September: possibly a damp rock. Go in with that framing and it can only surprise you upward.

Sources: Discover Siskiyou · World Waterfall Database

Root Creek Falls

Castle Crags State Park — 9.5 mi / 17 min south

Tiered, 500+ ft over the graniteSunday — upgrade to the Castle Crags stop$8/vehicle day use

⚠️

Hot-tub-sized pools, if there's water

Between the tiers there are small pools, but they sit at the top of the sketchy scramble and depend entirely on a flow that may not be there. Not a swimming plan — use Cantara or McCloud for that.

🪹 — Root Creek No data

Snowmelt-fed off the Castle Crags granite. Runs year-round as a creek but the falls itself often stops in a dry summer.

The pools between the tiers are hot-tub sized, at the top of a precarious scramble, and may be dry. Not a swimming plan.

Parking: Vista Point Trailhead lot at the top of Vista Point Rd, inside Castle Crags SP. $8/vehicle, day-use gate 8 am to sunset, CA State Park passes accepted. The <b>same lot</b> has the paved 0.2 mi ADA Vista Point Overlook &mdash; so whoever doesn't want the hike gets the Crags-and-Shasta view with no effort at all.

⚠️ Two honest caveats. One: the mapped trail ends about 170 m short of the falls. Getting to the base means leaving the trail, staying on the south bank and climbing a faint use path that hikers describe as strenuous and precarious. That last stretch is a no for your parents. Two: Root Creek runs year-round but the falls largely switches off in a dry summer — one hiker found it bone dry in late July. In late September you are gambling. The Crags scenery pays out regardless.

Vista Point lot &rarr; end of Root Creek Trail

Distance1.55 mi2498 m, one way

Elevation303 ft up92.3 m net

Average grade3.7%gentle

Steepest stretch18.0%90th percentile

The only real hike within 20 minutes of camp, and a good one: a wide forested path under the granite spires, 302 ft of net climb but 476 ft of cumulative up-and-down across rolling ground. The first mile is graded near-flat; it steepens in the last third.

📍 Parking pin ▶ Drive here Copy 41.15957, -122.30612

What it'll look like: When it runs, a long multi-tier ribbon down bare granite &mdash; the closest thing to a Yosemite wall in this county. When it doesn't, a very pretty forest walk with a dry cliff at the end.

Sources: Hike Mt. Shasta · Castle Crags SP · Active NorCal

The nearby ones that don't make the cut

• Mossbrae Falls — 4 minutes away, and still the answer is no. It is by a distance the most beautiful waterfall in the area and it is the closest one to you. The only access is 1.2 mi along live Union Pacific track; people are cited for it and people have been killed on it. UP signed a trail easement in June 2026 but construction is years out. The honest substitute is Hedge Creek, which you can actually walk behind.
• Burstarse Falls — 18 min south plus 2.75 mi each way on the PCT out of the Dog Trailhead. It's a good hike, but the creek is snowmelt-fed and late-season reports are consistently "a trickle" or "dried up". Not in September.
• Wagon Creek Falls — a 35–40 ft plunge near Lake Siskiyou that almost nobody visits, for the good reason that it isn't on a maintained trail and runs seasonally. You're already going to Lake Siskiyou for sunset; take the Wagon Creek suspension bridge and the flat shoreline path instead.
• Whitney, Ash Creek and Shackleford Falls — all in the "12 waterfalls near Dunsmuir" tourist lists. All of them are an hour-plus of driving, much of it dirt, for long exposed hikes. Wrong trip.

Skip these

• Mossbrae Falls — still no legal access. The only way in is along live Union Pacific track and people do get cited. UP signed a trail easement in June 2026 but construction is years out. Don't.
• Sengthong's, The Flamingo, Wayside Grill — closed for good. Poncho & Lefkowitz is closed Sundays.
• Cliff jumping at any of the McCloud falls — boulders have shifted into the historic jumping spots. Swimming is fine; jumping is how people get hurt here.

Send to the family

⛰️ Shasta weekend — Sep 25–27

☀️ 12–26°C and dry all weekend. Mornings are dead calm; wind builds after midday and Saturday afternoon gusts 36 km/h at Burney. Bunny Flat is 2.5–17°C — pack a real layer.

☕ Mornings: cappuccinos at camp, no breakfast stop. Out the door by 8:15.

FRI — Alameda → Dunsmuir, 266 mi. Leave 4:30 to land by 9:30. Eat before you go or Black Bear Diner in Mt Shasta (open to 10). Dunsmuir River Days is on downtown.

SAT — McCloud Falls (35 min east). Lower = the swimming one, flat 0.08 mi from the car. Middle = the big one, flat 0.7 mi in from Fowler Camp lot (NOT the steep switchbacks). Upper = flat 0.4 mi, viewpoint only.
→ Burney is off. Pick B, C or D on the page.
→ Bunny Flat → Lake Siskiyou for sunset (6:59) → BBQ + propane fire back at camp.

SUN — Coffee at camp, check out. Hedge Creek Falls (3 min away) — you walk BEHIND it. Castle Crags viewpoint. Then I-5 south, Shasta Dam tour on the way, home ~7:30.

🏊 Can you get in? (water temps, not air)
Lower McCloud YES but 8–11°C · Middle McCloud YES, same 8–11°C · Upper McCloud no · Cantara Loop YES, 13–16°C, the good one · Lake Siskiyou 17–19°C, the warmest water of the trip · Burney NO (6°C, prohibited — Lake Britton beach instead) · Hedge Creek wade only, swim hole is further down at the river · Faery Falls yes but a scramble

⭐ Near camp (new): Cantara Loop swimming hole, 14 min north — flat 0.24 mi along the river to a beach and a deep pool. Best swim close to camp. Also Root Creek Falls (Castle Crags, 17 min) — lovely 1.55 mi walk, but the falls may be dry in September. Mossbrae is 4 min away and still illegal — don't.

🧳 Packing list, tick as you pack (syncs between phones): https://artifact.sahirm.com/a/shasta-weekend-sep-2026/#packing

Full page with parking pins + walk maps: https://artifact.sahirm.com/a/shasta-weekend-sep-2026/